[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37371-37374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15767]
[[Page 37371]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
RIN 0648-AY34
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Fisheries of
the Bering Sea Subarea
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Availability of a fishery management amendment; request for
comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted
Amendment 94 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). Amendment 94, if
approved, would require the use of modified nonpelagic trawl gear to
directed fish for flatfish in the Bering Sea subarea and would change
the boundaries of the Northern Bering Sea Research Area to establish
the Modified Gear Trawl Zone and to expand the Saint Matthew Island
Habitat Conservation Area. The amendment also would make several minor
technical changes to the FMP. This action is necessary to reduce the
potential adverse effects of nonpelagic trawl gear on benthic habitat,
to protect additional blue king crab habitat near St. Matthew Island,
to provide for efficient flatfish harvest under changing ocean
conditions, and to revise the FMP by removing errors and ensuring
program descriptions are consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act. This action is intended to promote the
goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws. Comments from the
public are encouraged.
DATES: Written comments on the amendment must be received by 1700
hours, A.D.T., on August 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified for this
action by RIN 0648-AY34 (NOA), by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
Fax: 907-586-7557.
No comments will be posted for public viewing until after the
comment period has closed. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying
Information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily submitted by the
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF
file formats only.
Electronic copies of Amendment 94, maps of the action area, and the
Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) prepared for this action may be
obtained from http://www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska Region
website at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submit any FMP amendment
it prepares to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) for review and
approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act
also requires that the Secretary, upon receiving an FMP amendment,
immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register that the FMP
amendment is available for public review and comment. The
responsibilities of the Secretary under the Magnuson-Stevens Act have
been delegated to NMFS.
If approved, Amendment 94 would require modified nonpelagic trawl
gear for directed fishing for flatfish in the Bering Sea subarea and
would change the boundaries of the Northern Bering Sea Research Area
(NBSRA) to establish the Modified Gear Trawl Zone (MGTZ) and to expand
the Saint Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area (SMIHCA). The
amendment also would make several minor technical changes to the FMP.
In October 2009, the Council unanimously recommended Amendment 94.
The consideration of modified nonpelagic trawl gear was initiated with
the Council's development of Amendment 89 to the FMP (73 FR 43362, July
25, 2008). Amendment 89 established the Bering Sea Habitat Conservation
Measures, closing portions of the Bering Sea subarea to nonpelagic
trawling, and established the NBSRA and SMIHCA. The Council adopted
Amendment 89 in June 2007, but pursued the development of modified
nonpelagic trawl gear through subsequent coordination with NMFS and the
nonpelagic trawl fishing industry. Based on research by the Alaska
Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), nonpelagic trawl gear can be modified
to raise the sweeps off the bottom to reduce potential adverse effects
on benthic habitat and maintain effective catch rates for flatfish
target species. The gear would be modified by adding elevating devices
to the trawl sweeps, which contribute up to 90 percent of the trawl
gear contact with the bottom. AFSC studies have shown the use of
modified nonpelagic trawl gear reduces mortality and disturbance of sea
whips, basket stars, sponges, and crab species. The modified nonpelagic
trawl gear did not significantly reduce catch rates of flatfish
species. In 2008 and 2009, the AFSC and NOAA Office of Law Enforcement
worked with the fishing industry to test the modified nonpelagic trawl
gear under normal fishing conditions and determined that this gear can
be safely and effectively used.
Amendment 94 would reduce the NBSRA to establish the MGTZ and to
increase the SMIHCA (Figure 1). The NBSRA and the SMIHCA are currently
closed to fishing with nonpelagic trawl gear. The NBSRA was established
to provide a location with very little to no nonpelagic trawling for
the purpose of studying the effects of nonpelagic trawling on bottom
habitat. The SMIHCA was established to provide protection to blue king
crab habitat from the impacts from nonpelagic trawl gear. Figure 1
shows the current southern boundary of the NBSRA and how this boundary
would change with the proposed revision to the SMIHCA eastern border
and with establishing the MGTZ.
[[Page 37372]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP29JN10.061
The Council recommended moving the eastern boundary of the SMIHCA
to the eastern edge of the 12-nautical mile (nm) Territorial Sea
surrounding Saint Matthew Island. NMFS trawl annual surveys in 2007
through 2009 have found blue king crab in the area east of the SMIHCA
out to the edge of the 12 nm Territorial Sea. Based on this
information, the Council's Crab Plan Team recommended moving the
eastern boundary of the SMIHCA to the eastern extent of the 12 nm
Territorial Sea. Expanding the SMIHCA based on the best available
information would ensure the SMIHCA meets the Council's intent to
protect blue king crab habitat near Saint Matthew Island. The Council
recommended that the eastern border of the SMIHCA meet the western
border of the MGTZ so that no portion of the NBSRA would lie between
these areas, simplifying management. This common boundary also would
lie along a division in habitat types, with the habitat in the western
side of the proposed MGTZ being more favorable to flatfish species and
the habitat in the eastern side of the proposed SMIHCA being more
favorable to crab species. More detailed information regarding the NMFS
resource surveys and bottom habitats of the SMIHCA and the proposed
MGTZ are in the EA/RIR/IRFA for this action (see ADDRESSES).
The northern boundary of the MGTZ follows a whole number latitude
to facilitate mapping and management in the area. Based on public
testimony in October 2009, the Council recommended the proposed eastern
boundary of the MGTZ to allow for a buffer between an area of fishing
and the Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat
Conservation Area, an area important for subsistence activities. The
AFSC surveys in the western portion of the MGTZ show primarily flatfish
species with little Pacific halibut occurrence.
Nonpelagic trawling within the MGTZ would require the use of
modified nonpelagic trawl gear, regardless of the target species. This
requirement would reduce the potential adverse effects on bottom
habitat from nonpelagic trawl gear used for flatfish and the Pacific
cod fishing in the MGTZ. The opening of this area to fishing with
modified nonpelagic trawl gear was an incentive to the fishing industry
to continue the development of modified nonpelagic trawl gear after the
Council's recommendation of Amendment 89.
The Council also recommended four minor technical changes to the
FMP. The first would remove the description of the Crab and Halibut
Protection Area, which was effectively superseded by the Nearshore
Bristol Bay Trawl Closure at Sec. 679.22(a)(9). The second change
would renumber figures and correct cross-references to these figures in
Section 3 of the FMP, which became confused with the adoption of
figures under Amendment 89. The third change would revise the northern
boundary of the NBSRA to match the southern
[[Page 37373]]
boundary of Statistical Area 400 at the Bering Strait. Area 514 of the
Bering Sea subarea extends north to the southern boundary of Area 400
(Figure 2). The current northern boundary of the NBSRA leaves an area
open to nonpelagic trawling near the Bering Strait due to the wrong
coordinates being used for this boundary. The Council intended for the
entire northern portion of the Bering Sea subarea to be part of the
NBSRA, and this minor technical amendment would close this area of
water currently open to nonpelagic trawling.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP29JN10.062
The fourth minor technical amendment would replace outdated
language describing the structure of the Community Development Quota
Program (CDQ), as stated in the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act of
2006 (see section 305(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 2006
amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act included changes in the way
allocations to the CDQ groups are established and adjusted, listed the
eligible communities and the groups through which they can participate
in the CDQ program, and increased many of the groundfish allocations to
the CDQ Program to 10.7 percent of the total allowable catch for each
species. Amendment 94 would ensure that the FMP accurately describes
these CDQ program changes from the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Public Comments
NMFS is soliciting public comments on the proposed FMP amendment
through August 30, 2010. A proposed rule that would implement Amendment
94 will be published in the Federal Register for public comment at a
later date, following NMFS' evaluation pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens
Act. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by the end
of the comment period on Amendment 94 in
[[Page 37374]]
order to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the
amendment. All comments received on the amendment by the end of the
comment period, whether specifically directed to the amendment or to
the proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval
decision. Comments received after that date will not be considered in
the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment. To be considered,
comments must be received-not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted-
by 1700 hours, A.D.T., on the last day of the comment period (See DATES
and ADDRESSES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 23, 2010.
Carrie Selberg,
Acting Director, Office Sustainable Fisheries, National Fisheries
Marine Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-15767 Filed 6-28-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S