[Federal Register: August 7, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 153)]
[Notices]
[Page 45968]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07au08-41]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-Xl61
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of fee percentage.
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SUMMARY: NMFS publishes a notification of a one and five one-hundredths
(1.05) percent fee for cost recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Crab Rationalization Program (Program). This action is intended
to provide holders of crab allocations with the fee percentage for the
2008/2009 crab fishing year so they can calculate the required payment
for cost recovery fees that must be submitted by July 31, 2009.
DATES: The Crab Rationalization Program Registered Crab Receiver permit
holder is responsible for submitting the fee liability payment to NMFS
on or before July 31, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Harrington or Glenn Merrill,
907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS Alaska Region administers the Crab Rationalization Program in
the North Pacific. Fishing under the Program began in August 15, 2005.
Regulations implementing the Program are set forth at 50 CFR part 680.
The Program is a limited access system authorized by section 313(j)
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program includes a cost recovery provision
to collect fees to recover the actual costs directly related to the
management and enforcement of the Program. NMFS developed the cost
recovery provision to conform with statutory requirements and to
partially compensate the agency for the unique added costs of
management and enforcement of the Program. Section 313(j) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act provided supplementary authority to section
304(d)(2)(A) and additional detail for cost recovery provisions
specific to the Program. The cost recovery provision allows collection
of 133 percent of the actual management, data collecting, and
enforcement costs up to three percent of the ex-vessel value of crab
harvested under the Program. Additionally, section 313(j) requires the
harvesting and processing sectors to each pay half the cost recovery
fees. Catcher/processor quota share holders are required to pay the
full fee percentage.
A crab allocation holder generally incurs a cost recovery fee
liability for every pound of crab landed. The crab allocations include
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ), Crew IFQ, Individual Processing Quota,
Community Development Quota, and the Adak community allocation. The
Registered Crab Receiver (RCR) permit holder must collect the fee
liability from the crab allocation holder who is landing crab.
Additionally, the RCR permit holder must collect his or her own fee
liability for all crab delivered to the RCR. The RCR permit holder is
responsible for submitting this payment to NMFS on or before the due
date of July 31, following the crab fishing year in which payment for
the crab is made.
The dollar amount of the fee due is determined by multiplying the
fee percentage (not to exceed three percent) by the ex-vessel value of
crab debited from the allocation. Specific details on the Program's
cost recovery provision may be found in the implementing regulations
set forth at 50 CFR 680.44.
Fee Percentage
Each year, NMFS calculates and publishes in the Federal Register
the fee percentage according to the factors and methodology described
in Federal regulations at Sec. 680.44(c)(2). The formula for
determining the fee percentage is the ``direct program costs'' divided
by ``value of the fishery,'' where ``direct program costs'' are the
direct program costs for the Crab Rationalization Program for the
previous fiscal year, and ``value of the fishery'' is the ex-vessel
value of the catch subject to the crab cost recovery fee liability for
the current year. Using this fee percentage formula, the estimated
percentage of costs to value for the 2007/2008 crab fishing year was
1.05 percent. Therefore, the fee percentage will be 1.05 percent for
the 2008/2009 crab fishing year.
In all previous crab fishing years, the estimated percentage of
costs to value have exceeded three percent. However, the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, at section 304(d)(2)(B), prohibits NMFS from collecting
fees greater than three percent of the ex-vessel value of the crab
harvests under the Program. The fee percentage for the 2008/2009 crab
fishing year is less than three percent due to a variety of factors
including the increasing value of the fishery due to increased total
allowable catch limits for various crab species such as Bristol Bay red
king crab (Paralithodes camtshaticus) and Bering Sea Snow crab
(Chionoecetes opilio), increased exvessel price per pound of crab
relative to previous years, and decreased management costs relative to
previous years primarily due to decreased staff and contract costs.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862 et seq.
Dated: August 1, 2008.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-18197 Filed 8-6-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S