[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45671-45673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17045]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 011218304-2062-02; I. D. 121701A]
RIN 0648-AP69
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Steller Sea
Lion Protection Measures and 2002 Harvest Specifications and Associated
Management Measures for the Groundfish Fisheries off Alaska; Correction
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
[[Page 45672]]
ACTION: Emergency interim rule; correction, and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This document corrects an emergency interim rule implementing
Steller sea lion protection measures and 2002 harvest specifications
for the Alaska groundfish fishery. These corrections are needed to
afford Atka mackerel fishery participants an additional opportunity to
register for the 2002 B season harvest limit area fishery in the
Aleutian Islands subarea.
DATES: Effective July 10, 2002. Comments must be received on or before
5 p.m., A.l.t., August 9, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Lori Gravel-Durall, or
delivered to room 401 of the Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street,
Juneau, AK. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or
Internet. Copies of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on
Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures in the Federal Groundfish
Fisheries Off Alaska (SEIS), including the 2001 biological opinion and
regulatory impact review, and the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the
Total Allowable Catch for the Year 2002 Alaska Groundfish Fisheries may
be obtained from the same address. The SEIS and EA are also available
on the NMFS Alaska Region home page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, NMFS, 907-586-7228 or
e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The emergency interim rule published January
8, 2002 (67 FR 956), amended and corrected May 1, 2002, (67 FR 21600)
and extended May 16, 2002 (67 FR 34860), implements Steller sea lion
protection measures and final 2002 harvest specifications for the
groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management
area (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). As published, the final rule
contains errors regarding the registration process for the Atka
mackerel harvest limit area (HLA) directed fishery in the Aleutian
Islands subarea. This document corrects these errors.
Corrections
This action implements a registration process for the 2002 B season
harvest limit area (HLA) directed fishery for Atka mackerel. The
Council and NMFS intended that two separate lottery processes would be
used, one for each of the A and B season Atka mackerel fisheries in the
Aleutian Islands subarea and that vessels would be provided the
opportunity to participate in the A and/or B season HLA directed
fisheries.
January 15, 2002, is specified in the regulations as the cut off
date for registering to participate in the HLA directed fishery. This
date was intended to ensure that registration was received in time to
perform the lottery for vessel platoon assignments and to notify
participants of the results before the A season began on January 20. As
the regulatory text is currently written, vessels that were not
registered by January 15, 2002, would be excluded from participating in
both the A and B season HLA directed fishery. The emergency rule did
not address the timing or process for the B season lottery. This
omission is being corrected by this action.
In order to conduct a B season lottery for the HLA directed fishery
and provide all vessels the opportunity to participate, vessels
maintaining their Atka mackerel Federal fisheries permit (FFP)
endorsement through July 31 will be entered in the lottery to
participate in the B season fishery. Vessels that were not used in the
A season Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery but that register under
Sec. 679.4(b)(5)(vii) by 4:30 p.m., A. l. t., August 1, 2002, may
participate in the lottery for the B season HLA directed fishery, which
begins September 1, 2002.
Under Sec. 679.7(a)(19), vessels participating in an HLA directed
fishery are restricted from other groundfish fishing during the first
directed fishery assignment in the season. If the owner of a vessel
that was used in the A season HLA directed fishery wishes to
participate in a directed fishery for other groundfish species during
the B season HLA directed fishery, the owner must have the FFP amended
to remove the Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery endorsement before
August 1, 2002. Otherwise, the vessel will be entered into the HLA
directed fishery lottery and assigned a platoon for the Atka mackerel B
season fishery.
Classification
The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator),
has determined that this correction is necessary for the conservation
and management of the groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and GOA. The
Regional Administrator also has determined that this correction is
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws. No
relevant Federal rules exist that may duplicate, overlap, or conflict
with this action.
This correction has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
Consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the total allowable catch
specifications portion of the January 8, 2002, emergency interim rule.
NMFS also prepared a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS)
for the Steller sea lion protection measures; a notice of availability
of the draft SEIS was published in the Federal Register on August 31,
2001 (66 FR 45984). Comments were received and responded to in the
final SEIS and the final document was issued November 23, 2001 (66 FR
58734). The final SEIS and EA are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
Based on a comparison of the effects of the other alternatives in the
SEIS, NMFS determined that this action meets the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) requirements for Steller sea lion protection and environmental
protection without providing extreme economic hardship that was
anticipated from the most environmentally desirable alternative.
Potential adverse impacts on marine mammals resulting from fishing
activities conducted under the emergency interim rule (67 FR 956,
January 8, 2002) are discussed in the EA and final SEIS. The correction
in this action is within the scope of these NEPA analyses.
A formal section 7 consultation under the ESA was initiated for the
emergency interim rule (67 FR 956, January 8, 2002) under the FMPs for
the groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and the GOA. In a biological
opinion dated October 17, 2001, the Director of the Office of Protected
Resources determined that fishing activities conducted under the
Steller sea lion protection measures implemented by the emergency
interim rule (67 FR 956, January 8, 2002) are not likely to jeopardize
the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or
result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.
In a memorandum dated December 11, 2001, from the Office of Protected
Resources to the Office of Sustainable Fisheries, biological opinions
dated December 22, 1999, and December 23, 1999, were extended for 1
year from January 1, 2002, for purposes of the harvest specifications
implemented by the January 8, 2002 emergency interim rule. This
correction is consistent with the objectives for Steller sea lion
protection measures implemented in 2002, the ESA, and other applicable
laws, and will not affect listed species or critical
[[Page 45673]]
habitat in any manner not previously evaluated in prior consultations.
By this action, NMFS is correcting the Steller sea lion protection
measures which have been in effect since January 1, 2002, for the BSAI
and GOA. This correction clarifies the requirements for registration in
the Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery for the B season starting
September 1, 2002. Registration for this fishery must be completed by
August 1, 2002, to allow NMFS to conduct the lottery and to notify
participants of results before the start of the fishery. Because delay
in implementing this correction would unnecessarily limit opportunity
for participation in the Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery, it is
impracticable to provide prior notice and an opportunity for public
comment and contrary to the public interest pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(3). For the same reasons, a delay in the effective date is
hereby waived pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). Because prior notice and
opportunity for public comment are not required for this correction to
the emergency interim 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. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis
has not been prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679
Alaska, Fisheries, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
Dated: July 1, 2002.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended as
follows:
PART 679--FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA
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.;
Title II of Division C, Pub. L. 105-277; Sec. 3027, Pub. L. 106-31;
113 Stat. 57; 16 U.S.C. 1540(f); and Sec. 209, Pub. L. 106-554.
2. In Sec. 679.20, paragraphs (a)(8)(iii) and (a)(8)(iii)(A) are
revised to read as follows:
Sec. 679.20 General limitations.
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(8) * * *
(iii) Platoon management of Atka mackerel harvest limit area
directed fishing (applicable through December 31, 2002)--(A)
Registration. All vessels using trawl gear for directed fishing for
Atka mackerel in the HLA, as defined in Sec. 679.2, are required to
register with NMFS. To register, the vessel owner or operator must
provide information required by Sec. 679.4(b)(5)(vii) for an
endorsement to the vessel's Federal fishery permit issued under Sec.
679.4.
(1) To participate in the A season HLA fishery, registration
information must be received by NMFS, Restricted Access Management
Program, by 4:30 p.m., A.l.t., on the first working day following
January 15, 2002.
(2) To participate in the B season HLA fishery,
(i) The vessel must be registered for the A season HLA fishery and
must be registered for the HLA fishery through August 1, 2002, or
(ii) Registration information for the HLA fishery must be received
by NMFS, Restricted Access Management Program, by 4:30 p.m., A.l.t.,
August 1, 2002.
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[FR Doc. 02-17045 Filed 7-9-02; 8:45 am]
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