[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR600.330]

[Page 39-40]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 600--MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart D--National Standards
 
Sec. 600.330  National Standard 5--Efficiency.

    (a) Standard 5. Conservation and management measures shall, where 
practicable, consider efficiency in the utilization of fishery 
resources; except that no such measure shall have economic allocation as 
its sole purpose.
    (b) Efficiency in the utilization of resources--(1) General. The 
term ``utilization'' encompasses harvesting, processing, marketing, and 
non-consumptive uses of the resource, since management decisions affect 
all sectors of the industry. In considering efficient utilization of 
fishery resources, this standard highlights one way that a fishery can 
contribute to the Nation's benefit with the least cost to society: Given 
a set of objectives for the fishery, an FMP should contain management 
measures that result in as efficient a fishery as is practicable or 
desirable.
    (2) Efficiency. In theory, an efficient fishery would harvest the OY 
with the minimum use of economic inputs such as labor, capital, 
interest, and fuel. Efficiency in terms of aggregate costs then becomes 
a conservation objective, where ``conservation'' constitutes wise use of 
all resources involved in the fishery, not just fish stocks.
    (i) In an FMP, management measures may be proposed that allocate 
fish among different groups of individuals or establish a system of 
property rights. Alternative measures examined in searching for an 
efficient outcome will result in different distributions of gains and 
burdens among identifiable user groups. An FMP should demonstrate that 
management measures aimed at efficiency do not simply redistribute gains 
and burdens without an increase in efficiency.
    (ii) Management regimes that allow a fishery to operate at the 
lowest possible cost (e.g., fishing effort, administration, and 
enforcement) for a particular level of catch and initial stock size are 
considered efficient. Restrictive measures that unnecessarily raise any 
of those costs move the regime toward inefficiency. Unless the use of 
inefficient techniques or the creation of redundant fishing capacity 
contributes to the attainment of other social or biological objectives, 
an FMP may not contain management measures that impede the use of cost-
effective techniques of harvesting, processing, or marketing, and should 
avoid creating strong incentives for excessive investment in private 
sector fishing capital and labor.
    (c) Limited access. A ``system for limiting access,'' which is an 
optional measure under section 303(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, is a 
type of allocation of fishing privileges that may be considered to 
contribute to economic efficiency or conservation. For example, limited 
access may be used to combat overfishing, overcrowding, or 
overcapitalization in a fishery to achieve OY. In an unutilized or 
underutilized fishery, it may be used to reduce the chance that these 
conditions will adversely affect the fishery in the future, or to 
provide adequate economic return to pioneers in a new fishery. In some 
cases, limited entry is a

[[Page 40]]

useful ingredient of a conservation scheme, because it facilitates 
application and enforcement of other management measures.
    (1) Definition. Limited access (or limited entry) is a management 
technique that attempts to limit units of effort in a fishery, usually 
for the purpose of reducing economic waste, improving net economic 
return to the fishermen, or capturing economic rent for the benefit of 
the taxpayer or the consumer. Common forms of limited access are 
licensing of vessels, gear, or fishermen to reduce the number of units 
of effort, and dividing the total allowable catch into fishermen's 
quotas (a stock-certificate system). Two forms (i.e., Federal fees for 
licenses or permits in excess of administrative costs, and taxation) are 
not permitted under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, except for fees allowed 
under section 304(d)(2).
    (2) Factors to consider. The Magnuson-Stevens Act ties the use of 
limited access to the achievement of OY. An FMP that proposes a limited 
access system must consider the factors listed in section 303(b)(6) of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act and in Sec. 600.325(c)(3). In addition, it 
should consider the criteria for qualifying for a permit, the nature of 
the interest created, whether to make the permit transferable, and the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act's limitations on returning economic rent to the 
public under section 304(d). The FMP should also discuss the costs of 
achieving an appropriate distribution of fishing privileges.
    (d) Analysis. An FMP should discuss the extent to which 
overcapitalization, congestion, economic waste, and inefficient 
techniques in the fishery reduce the net benefits derived from the 
management unit and prevent the attainment and appropriate allocation of 
OY. It should also explain, in terms of the FMP's objectives, any 
restriction placed on the use of efficient techniques of harvesting, 
processing, or marketing. If, during FMP development, the Council 
considered imposing a limited-entry system, the FMP should analyze the 
Council's decision to recommend or reject limited access as a technique 
to achieve efficient utilization of the resources of the fishing 
industry.
    (e) Economic allocation. This standard prohibits only those measures 
that distribute fishery resources among fishermen on the basis of 
economic factors alone, and that have economic allocation as their only 
purpose. Where conservation and management measures are recommended that 
would change the economic structure of the industry or the economic 
conditions under which the industry operates, the need for such measures 
must be justified in light of the biological, ecological, and social 
objectives of the FMP, as well as the economic objectives.

[61 FR 32540, June 24, 1996, as amended at 63 FR 7075, Feb. 12, 1998; 63 
FR 24234, May 1, 1998]