Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Compensation for Collecting Resource Information

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 1 (Monday, January 4, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45-46]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34786]



[[Page 45]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 971229312-7312-01; I.D. 042398C]


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Compensation for Collecting Resource 
Information

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Emergency rule; extension of expiration date.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This action extends an existing emergency rule by which a 
vessel owner or operator, who has collected resource information 
according to NMFS-approved protocol, may be compensated with the 
opportunity to harvest fish in excess of current vessel limits and/or 
outside other restrictions. This emergency rule was intended to improve 
the types and amounts of scientific information available for use in 
stock assessments and management of the Pacific Coast groundfish 
fishery.

DATES: Effective January 4, 1999, the emergency rule published July 7, 
1998, beginning at 63 FR 36614 is extended through July 2, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment/regulatory impact 
review are available from William Stelle, Jr., Administrator, Northwest 
Region, (Regional Administrator) NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., 
Seattle, WA 98115; or William T. Hogarth, Administrator, Southwest 
Region, (Regional Administrator) NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 
4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213. Send comments regarding the reporting 
burden estimate or any other aspect of the collection-of-information 
requirements in this emergency rule, including suggestions for reducing 
the burden, to one of the NMFS addresses and to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, D.C. 20503 (ATTN: NOAA Desk 
Officer).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine A. King at 206-526-6140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is extending an emergency rule (63 FR 
36614, July 7, 1998) which otherwise would expire on January 4, 1999. 
It allows owners or operators of vessels that collect resource 
information to be compensated with the opportunity to harvest fish in 
excess of current vessel limits and/or outside other restrictions 
(hereinafter ``compensated with fish''). NMFS is extending this rule 
under the Secretary's emergency rulemaking authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 
Section 305 (c)(3)(B). Amendment 11 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP), prepared by the Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) and under review by NMFS, includes 
provisions that would continue this measure on a permanent basis. This 
action is necessary to support the 1999 resource surveys until 
regulations implementing Amendment 11 to the PCGFMP, if approved, 
become effective.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act, as amended on October 11, 1996, 
authorizes the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to use the private 
sector to provide vessels, equipment, and services necessary to survey 
fishery resources and to pay for surveys through the sale of fish taken 
during the survey or, if the quality or amount of fish is not adequate, 
on a subsequent commercial fishing trip (sec. 402(e)). Section 
303(b)(11) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act enables the Secretary to 
``reserve a portion of the allowable biological catch of the fishery 
for use in scientific research.'' A vessel that is chartered by NMFS to 
conduct resource surveys becomes a ``scientific research vessel'' as 
defined at 50 CFR 600.10, and it must not conduct commercial fishing on 
the same trip during which a resource survey is conducted.

Background

    At its November 1997 meeting, the Council recommended that NMFS 
implement an emergency rule for 1998 that would allow owners or 
operators of vessels that collect resource information to be 
compensated with fish. At the time, the Council was in the 
developmental stages of Amendment 11, with the expectation that a 
portion of Amendment 11 would authorize the Council to allow small 
amounts of the allowable biological catches (ABC) of managed species to 
be reserved for use in scientific research and as compensation fish for 
that research. Because NMFS needed to use private vessels in its 
resource surveys in the summer and fall of 1998, emergency rule 
authorization was needed to make fish available as compensation for 
those vessels conducting the surveys before Amendment 11 could be 
approved. A proposed emergency rule with a request for public comments 
was published on May 15, 1998 (63 FR 27035). On July 1, 1998, the 
emergency rule in support of this action became effective (63 FR 36614, 
July 7, 1998). NMFS received one public comment, which was supportive 
of the action and resulted in no change to the emergency rule. This 
extension makes no change to the regulatory text for this rule, which 
is available at 50 CFR 660.350.
    NMFS is committed to addressing concerns over the amount and 
accuracy of survey data used for stock assessment. However, Federal 
fiscal constraints have precluded gathering the information needed. The 
unavailability of the principal NOAA survey ship, Miller Freeman, has 
further restricted the agency's ability to gather data. To expand and 
improve information used in management of the groundfish fishery, the 
fishing industry, environmental groups, and NMFS actively explored ways 
to involve the fishing industry in gathering data. A result of this 
effort was the emergency rule to compensate a fishing vessel's owner or 
operator with fish for participating in collecting the resource 
information.
    During 1998, compensation with fish was included as a component of 
contracts that NMFS awarded to commercial fishing vessels to conduct 
the annual slope survey. Implementation of these provisions has allowed 
NMFS to expand sampling and provide much needed data for groundfish 
stock assessments. Extending these provisions until Amendment 11 
regulations become effective will allow NMFS to proceed with data 
collection programs during the winter and spring of 1999 that will 
provide additional data for groundfish stock assessment.
    The process by which NMFS and the Council will approve the use of 
fish for compensation is described in the preamble of the emergency 
rule (63 FR 36614, July 7, 1998). In addition, detailed discussion on 
the compensation process for vessels conducting resource surveys, 
including the issuance of exempted fishing permits, the selection of 
commercial vessels, the adjustment of the ABCs to account for 
compensation fishing, and the retention of samples are included in the 
preamble to the emergency rule and is not restated in this extension.

Classification

    This emergency rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    This emergency rule contains a collection-of-information 
requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). 
Notwithstanding any other

[[Page 46]]

provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any 
person be subject to a 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. The collection of this information has been approved by OMB 
under OMB control number 0648-0203 for Federal fishing permits. The 
public reporting burden for applications for exempted fishery permits 
is estimated at 1 hour per response; the burden for reporting by 
exempted fishing permittees is estimated at 30 minutes per response. 
These estimates include the time for reviewing instructions, searching 
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and 
completing and revising the collection of information. Send comments 
regarding these burden estimates or any other aspect of the data 
requirements, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to NMFS 
(see ADDRESSES) and to OMB, Washington, DC 20503 (ATTN: NOAA Desk 
Officer).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: December 28, 1998.
Gary C. Matlock,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 98-34786 Filed 12-29-98; 2:24 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F