[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 179 (Thursday, September 16, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56485-56486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23165]
[[Page 56485]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 680
[Docket No. 0910051335-0151-01]
RIN 0648-AY28
Groundfish Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska;
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program; Recordkeeping
and Reporting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations to remove the Crab Rationalization
Program requirements for catcher/processors to weigh all offloaded crab
on a state-approved scale that produces a printed record and to submit
a catcher/processor offload report. The purpose of this action is to
reduce unnecessary paperwork burdens on the fishing industry. NMFS
determined that these requirements are no longer necessary. This action
promotes the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and other
applicable laws.
DATES: Effective September 16, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of this rule, the Regulatory Impact Review
(RIR), and the categorical exclusion memorandum may be obtained from
the Alaska Region Web site at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this
final rule may be submitted by mail to NMFS, Alaska Region, P. O. Box
21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer;
in person at NMFS, Alaska Region, 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A,
Juneau, Alaska to NMFS, Alaska Region; and by e-mail to [email protected], or fax to 202-395-7285.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patsy A. Bearden, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the U.S. crab fisheries under
the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and
Tanner Crabs (FMP). The FMP was prepared by the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Regulations
implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR parts 679 and 680. General
regulations that pertain to U.S. fisheries appear at subpart H of 50
CFR part 600.
Background
The Crab Rationalization (CR) Program is a limited-access system
that allocates crab managed under the FMP among harvesters, processors,
and coastal communities. Prior to publication of this final rule, NMFS
required that all crab harvested and processed by catcher/processors as
individual fishing quota (IFQ) be weighed at sea prior to processing
and that crab weights be reported to NMFS on an IFQ crab landings
report (see Sec. 679.5(e)(8)). The weights reported on the IFQ crab
landings report were used to debit crab IFQ from a quota holder's
account. In addition, catcher/processors were required prior to
publication of this final rule to weigh the crab again when it is
offloaded from the vessel and report this weight to NMFS on a catcher/
processor offload report (see Sec. 680.5(e)).
The original purpose of the offload report was to provide
information so that NMFS could audit the IFQ crab landing reports.
Completing this report required a crab catcher/processor to offload all
processed crab product shoreside at a designated port and weigh that
product on a scale approved by the state in which the crab is removed
from the vessel. CR catcher/processors were required to complete the
offload report when crab were offloaded from the vessel and to attach a
scale printout showing gross product offload weight. The weight
reported on the offload report included not only the weight of crab but
also the weight of packaging, pallets, and glaze. While NMFS could make
deductions for these items, the deductions created variance in the
total weight of crab landed shoreside. For this reason, NMFS found it
difficult to use the weights from the offload report to audit the
weight obtained from the at-sea hopper scales as originally intended.
Advancements in at-sea reporting of crab catch (eLandings) and the
improved reliability of the at-sea motion-compensated hopper scales
have changed the need for CR catcher/processors to report offloads.
Catcher/processors use eLandings to report total harvest of crab to
NMFS weekly while at sea, which provides NMFS with up-to-date
accounting of total crab harvested. Motion-compensated hopper scales
provide reliable, independent estimates of the total catch by quota
sector for all crab harvested.
Removal of the regulatory requirements for CR catcher/processors to
weigh offloaded crab product and submit offload reports does not
diminish NMFS' ability to verify reported CR crab catch weight. NMFS
still requires that all crab be weighed at sea and scale weights of
crab be submitted to NMFS on eLandings weekly reports. Alaska
Department of Fish and Game observers are onboard crab vessels and have
the opportunity to observe hopper scale activities for consistency with
the regulatory requirement that vessels weigh all landed IFQ crab. NOAA
Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement (OLE) uses eLandings weekly
reports, the printouts from the hopper scales showing the total weight
of crab harvested, and additional auditing methods to verify CR quota
accounting instead of using the catcher/processor offload reports.
Further, even without the requirement to weigh and report the gross
weight of offloaded product, the OLE will still have the authority and
ability to conduct a full audit of offload weights to verify reported
crab catch weight.
Specifically, this rule removes the requirement at Sec. 680.5(e)
for the owner or operator of a catcher/processor to complete and submit
to NMFS a catcher/processor offload report with its attached scale
printout showing gross product offload weight. It also removes Sec.
680.5(a)(2)(i)(H) because it only serves as a cross-reference to Sec.
680.5(e), which is removed. This rule also removes the requirement at
Sec. 680.23(b)(4) for catcher/processors to weigh all offloaded CR
Program crab on a state-approved scale.
NMFS published the proposed rule for this action in the Federal
Register on August 10, 2010 (75 FR 48298), with a public comment period
that closed August 25, 2010. One comment was received from a private
citizen during this comment period and is summarized and responded to
below.
Response to Comments
Comment 1: The commenter supports the removal of the regulatory
requirement for catcher/processors to weigh all offloaded CR Program
crab on a state-approved scale, saying the requirement is redundant and
unnecessary.
Response: NMFS agrees.
Classification
The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, has determined that this
rule is necessary for the conservation and management of the Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands crab fisheries and that
[[Page 56486]]
it is consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable
laws.
This final rule removes weighing and reporting requirements that
NMFS has determined are no longer necessary for management and
monitoring of the crab fisheries. These requirements constitute a
restriction on CR catcher/processors because operators of these vessels
currently may not legally land processed crab without complying with
these requirements. After NMFS removes these requirements, fewer
restrictions will apply to landings of processed crab by CR catcher/
processors. Specifically, operators of CR catcher/processors that do
not weigh the offloaded product on approved scales and submit the
offload report to NMFS will be able to legally land processed crab. The
elimination of these weighing and reporting requirements reduces the
costs associated with legally landing processed crab by relieving a
restriction on crab landings by catcher/processor vessels. Therefore,
this final rule is not subject to the 30-day delayed effectiveness
provision of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Council for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Council for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding this certification, and no changes have been made to the
proposed rule. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not
required and none was prepared.
This action will not increase recordkeeping and reporting costs.
Collection-of-Information Requirements
This rule contains collection-of-information requirements subject
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and which have been approved by
the Office for Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control No. 0648-
0570.
Public reporting burden per response is estimated to average 20
minutes for a catcher/processor crab offload report. This rule removes
this offload report and the associated reporting burden without
imposing any new, additional reporting burden..
These estimates of public reporting burden include the time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection-of-information.
Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of
this data collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to
NMFS (see ADDRESSES); e-mail to [email protected] or fax to
202-395-7285.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is
required to respond to, and no person shall be subject to penalty for
failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 680
Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: September 13, 2010.
Eric C. Schwaab,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 680 is amended as
follows:
PART 680--SHELLFISH FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF
ALASKA
0
1. The authority citation for part 680 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109-241; Pub. L. 109-479.
Sec. 680.5 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 680.5, remove and reserve paragraph (a)(2)(i)(H) and
paragraph (e).
0
3. In Sec. 680.23, revise paragraph (b)(4) to read as follows:
Sec. 680.23 Equipment and operational requirements.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(4) Offload all CR crab product processed onboard at a shoreside
location in the United States accessible by road or regularly scheduled
air service; and
* * * * *
Sec. 680.23 [Amended]
0
4. At each of the locations shown in the ``Location'' column, remove
the phrase indicated in the ``Remove'' column and replace it with the
phrase indicated in the ``Add'' column for the number of times
indicated in the ``Frequency'' column.
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Location Remove Add Frequency
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Sec. 680.23(f)(3)(i)................ delivery or offload are....... delivery are............ 1
Sec. 680.23(f)(3)(ii)............... CR crab or an offload of CR CR crab must............ 1
crab product must.
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[FR Doc. 2010-23165 Filed 9-13-10; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P