# Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures for the Groundfish Fisheries Off Alaska; Final 2001 Harvest Specifications and Associated Management Measures for the Groundfish Fisheries Off Alaska

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A01-1744

## Record

- **Collection:** Federal Register
- **Document type:** Rule
- **Published:** January 22, 2001
- **Citation:** 66 FR 7276

## Text

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 010112013-1013-01; I.D. 011101B]
RIN 0648-A082
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures for the Groundfish Fisheries Off Alaska; Final 2001 Harvest Specifications and Associated Management Measures for the Groundfish Fisheries Off Alaska

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Emergency interim rule; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

NMFS issues an emergency interim rule to implement Steller sea lion protection measures to avoid the likelihood that the groundfish fisheries off Alaska will jeopardize the continued existence of the western population of Steller sea lions or adversely modify its critical habitat. These management measures will disperse fishing effort over time and area and provide protection from fisheries competition for prey in waters adjacent to rookeries and important haulouts. This action also announces final 2001 harvest specifications and associated management measures for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The intended effect of this emergency interim rule is to protect the endangered western population of Steller sea lions, as required under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI and the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES:

Effective January 18, 2001 through July 17, 2001, except for:

50 CFR 679.22(a)(11)(v), (a)(12)(v), and (b)(3)(iv) will be effective on 1200 hours (Noon) A.l.t., June 10, 2001, through July 17, 2001, and

Sections 679.4(l); 679.5(a)(4)(iv); 679.5(f)(3); 679.5(i)(1)(iii); 679.5(o); 679.20(a)(5)(i)(D); 679.20(d)(1)(iv); 679.21(d)(8); 679.21(e)(3)(v); 679.50(c)(5); 679.50(d)(5) and subpart F will be effective January 18, 2001, through December 31, 2001.

Comments must be received by February 21, 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Comments may be sent to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK, 99802, Attn: Lori Gravel, or delivered to room 401 of the Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or Internet. Copies of the November 30, 2000, Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement on Authorization of the BSAI groundfish fisheries based on the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and Authorization of the GOA groundfish fisheries based on the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (Comprehensive BiOp), including the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA), may be obtained from the same address. The Comprehensive BiOp is also available on the NMFS Alaska Region home page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.

Copies of the Final 2001 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) reports, dated November 2000, are available from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, West 4th Avenue, Suite 306, Anchorage, AK, 99510 or from their home page at ­http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sue Salveson, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, 907-586-7228 or email at sue.salveson@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic zone off Alaska under the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area and the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMPs). The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared the FMPs under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801,
et seq.
Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and implementing the FMPs appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. NMFS also has management responsibility for certain threatened and endangered species, including Steller sea lions, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 16 U.S.C. 1531,
et seq.
, and the authority to promulgate regulations to enforce provisions of the ESA to protect such species.

Introduction

The preamble to this emergency rule contains two parts. Part I explains the background surrounding actions taken to protect the endangered western population of Steller sea lions, including information on the development and specific provisions of the RPA developed in the Comprehensive BiOp. Part II describes the harvest specifications for the 2001 groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and GOA. These specifications are consistent with the 2001 Steller sea lion protection measures.

Part I. Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures

Background

In 1990, NMFS designated the Steller sea lion as a threatened species under the ESA. The designation followed severe declines throughout much of the GOA and Aleutian Islands region. In 1993, NMFS defined critical habitat for the species to include (among other areas), the marine areas within 20 nautical miles (nm) of major rookeries and haulouts of the species west of 144° W longitude. In 1997, NMFS recognized two separate populations, and reclassified the western population (west of 144° W longitude) as endangered.

NMFS first began collecting information on the abundance of Steller sea lions during the 1950s and 1960s. However, the first counts based on reliable data were not available until the late 1970s; these counts reported approximately 109,800 animals. During the 1980s, a precipitous decline of Steller sea lions was observed. By 1996, the population had declined by 80 percent from the late 1970s. Counts of adult and juvenile Steller sea lions have continued to decline over the last few years, but at a lower rate.

NMFS believes that multiple factors have contributed to the decline, but considerable evidence indicates that lack of available prey is a significant factor. Foraging studies confirm that Steller sea lions depend on pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel as major prey sources, and that they may be particularly sensitive to reduced availability of prey during the winter. The significance of pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel in the diet of sea lions may have increased since the 1970s due to shifts in the Bering Sea ecosystem related to atmospheric and oceanographic changes.

In accordance with the requirements of the ESA, the NMFS Office of Protected Resources issued a biological opinion on the pollock fisheries of the BSAI and GOA and the Atka mackerel fishery of the Aleutian Islands subarea, dated December 3, 1998, and revised December 16, 1998 (1998-1 BiOp). The 1998-1 BiOp concluded that the BSAI and GOA pollock trawl fisheries, as

projected for 1999 through 2002, were likely to jeopardize the endangered western population of Steller sea lions and adversely modify critical habitat designated for this population. The term “jeopardize” means “to engage in an action that reasonably would be expected, directly or indirectly, to reduce appreciably the likelihood of both the survival and recovery of a listed species in the wild by reducing the reproduction, numbers, or distribution of that species” (50 CFR 402.02). The phrase “adversely modify its critical habitat” means “a direct or indirect alteration that appreciably diminishes the value of critical habitat for both the survival and recovery of a listed species. Such alterations include, but are not limited to, alterations adversely modifying any of those physical or biological features that were the basis for determining the habitat to be critical” (50 CFR 402.02). The 1998-1 BiOp also concluded that the Atka mackerel fishery, as modified by recent regulatory changes (64 FR 3446, January 22, 1999), was not likely to jeopardize the endangered western population of Steller sea lions or adversely modify its critical habitat.

The 1998-1 BiOp did not prescribe a single RPA for the BSAI and GOA pollock fisheries, but rather established a framework to avoid the likelihood of jeopardizing the continued existence of the western population of Steller sea lions or adversely modifying their critical habitat. The framework consisted of three principles: (1) Temporal dispersion of fishing effort, (2) spatial dispersion of fishing effort, and (3) protection from fisheries competition for Steller sea lion prey in waters adjacent to rookeries and important haulouts. For each of these principles, the 1998-1 BiOp provided guidance on the development of management measures to meet the objectives and, ultimately, to avoid jeopardy and adverse modification. The 1998-1 BiOp stated that certain conservation measures could be phased in over a 2-year period.

In December 1998, NMFS staff briefed the Council on the 1998-1 BiOp. The Council then prepared recommendations for alternative management measures based on the RPA guidelines to avoid jeopardy and adverse modification. The Council's recommendation did not contain Bering Sea subarea (BS) pollock harvest specifications for the second half of 1999. However, the Council planned to recommend these measures prior to mid-1999. The Council also recommended closing all but nine of the haulout zones specified by the 1998-1 BiOp in the BSAI and GOA. NMFS determined these recommendations to be acceptable as part of a 2-year phase-in strategy, in which equivalent or better protections would be extended for those areas for 2000 and beyond.

On December 16, 1998, NMFS adopted the measures recommended by the Council (with modifications) into the 1998-1 BiOp as part of the reasonable and prudent alternatives for the Alaska pollock fisheries. NMFS published an emergency interim rule implementing these measures in the
Federal Register
on January 22, 1999 (64 FR 3437), as amended on February 17, 1999 (64 FR 7814), and on February 25, 1999 (64 FR 9375), which was effective through July 19, 1999. The preamble to the emergency rule provides a detailed description of the purpose and need for the implementation of emergency measures in 1999.

The Council met again in February, April, and June 1999 to consider recommendations for extending the emergency rule for the second half of 1999, and, at its June meeting, voted to extend the emergency rule. Using the Council's recommendation, NMFS extended the emergency rule through December 31, 1999 (64 FR 39087, July 21, 1999; technical amendment 64 FR 43297, August 10, 1999), with revisions that included BS pollock harvest specifications for the second half of 1999.

In June 1999, the Council also deliberated on various management measures to implement permanently the reasonable and prudent alternatives as described in the 1998-1 BiOp for 2000 and beyond. After significant debate and public comment, the Council voted to recommend a series of conservation measures to protect Steller sea lions.

Greenpeace, the American Oceans Campaign, and the Sierra Club challenged the 1998-1 BiOp in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (
Greenpeace
v.
NMFS,
Civ. No. C98-0492Z (W.D. Wash.)). In an Order issued on July 9, 1999 (and amended on July 13, 1999), the Court upheld the no-jeopardy conclusion for the Atka mackerel fishery and the jeopardy conclusion for the pollock fisheries. However, the Court also found that “the Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives * * * were arbitrary and capricious * * * because they were not justified under the prevailing legal standards and because the record does not support a finding that they were reasonably likely to avoid jeopardy.” On August 6, 1999, the Court remanded the 1998-1 BiOp back to NMFS for further analysis and explanation.

To comply with the Court's Order, NMFS conducted additional analyses and completed the Revised Final Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RFRPAs) on October 15, 1999. The RFRPAs describe management measures that will avoid the likelihood that the pollock fisheries authorized by regulations will jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered western population of Steller sea lions or adversely modify their critical habitat.

NMFS evaluated the measures recommended by the Council in June 1999 as part of the RFRPA analyses, and determined that these measures (with modification to season dates, haulout protections, and spatial dispersion in the Bering Sea) achieved the principles identified in the 1998-1 BiOp and the RFRPAs, and these were subsequently incorporated into the October 15, 1999, RFRPAs mentioned above. NMFS implemented the modified measures (then the RFRPAs) by emergency interim rule for the 2000 groundfish fisheries (65 FR 3892, January 25, 2000, and 65 FR 36795, June 12, 2000). Greenpeace, the American Oceans Campaign, the Sierra Club, and fishing industry representatives have challenged the adequacy of the RFRPAs in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. That judicial challenge is still pending.

In December 1998, NMFS also issued an additional biological opinion evaluating the effects of the 1999 Federal groundfish fisheries in the BSAI and the GOA on endangered and threatened species and their critical habitat (1998-2 BiOp). Greenpeace, the American Oceans Campaign, and the Sierra Club also challenged the legal adequacy of the 1998-2 BiOp, resulting in a Court Order finding it too narrow in scope. (
Greenpeace
v.
NMFS,
80 F. Supp. 2d 1137 (W.D. Wash. 2000)). On July 19, 2000, the Court issued an injunction prohibiting fishing for groundfish with trawl gear in the exclusive economic zone within Steller sea lion critical habitat west of 144° W. longitude until NMFS issued a comprehensive biological opinion adequately analyzing the full scope of the FMPs. (
Greenpeace
v.
NMFS,
106 F. Supp. 2d 1066 (W.D. Wash. 2000)). The critical habitat areas closed by the Court's injunction were defined in regulations codified at 50 CFR 226.202, and in Tables 1 and 2 of 50 CFR part 226. Pursuant to the ESA, NMFS issued an interim final rule prohibiting fishing for groundfish with trawl gear in Steller sea lion critical habitat specified in the Court's injunction (65 FR 49766, August 15, 2000).

In response to the Court's Order that found the 1998-2 BiOp inadequate, NMFS issued the Comprehensive BiOp on November 30, 2000. The Comprehensive BiOp evaluates all authorized federal groundfish fisheries and the overall management framework established by the GOA and BSAI FMPs. After analyzing the cumulative, direct, and indirect effects of the groundfish fisheries authorized by the GOA and BSAI FMPs on listed species, NMFS concluded in the Comprehensive BiOp that the Alaska groundfish fisheries, as currently prosecuted, jeopardize the continued existence of the western population of Steller sea lions and adversely modify its critical habitat. This conclusion was reached based on information that pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel are the main prey species for which Steller sea lions compete with the fisheries; that this competition causes reduced availability of prey, an effect of particular concern within Steller sea lion critical habitat, that reduced availability of prey leads to nutritional stress; and that nutritional stress, especially of juveniles and to a lesser extent adult females, is the leading hypothesis to explain the continued decline of the western population of Steller sea lions. The Comprehensive BiOp included an RPA that would allow a modified fishery to occur in a manner that would avoid jeopardy to the continued existence of Steller sea lions and adverse modification to their critical habitat.

On December 21, 2000, the President signed Public Law 106-554. This law contains a one-year timetable for implementing the RPA as well as provisions affecting its implementation. In the following discussion, references will be made to these provisions whenever they affect implementation of the RPA.

Section 209 of Public Law 106-554, paragraph (c)(3) also requires that “(t)he 2001 Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries shall be managed in accordance with the fishery management plan and federal regulations in effect for such fisheries prior to July 15, 2000 * * * and said regulations are hereby restored to full force and effect.” NMFS has determined that this statutory provision extends through 2001 the interim emergency regulations promulgated in 2000 to implement the American Fisheries Act, Public Law 105-277 (AFA). In addition, NMFS has determined that this statutory provision does not invalidate fishery management plan amendments or regulatory amendments approved or implemented after July 15, 2000, that do not directly affect measures governing the interaction of fisheries with endangered Steller sea lions, and that such amendments remain in full force and effect. These measures include: Amendment 58 (Chinook salmon bycatch controls published at 65 FR 60587, October 12, 2000) and Amendment 64 (fixed gear allocations of Pacific cod published at 65 FR 51553, August 24, 2000) to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area; Amendment 59 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska that established the Sitka Sound Marine reserve (65 FR 67305, November 9, 2000); and three separate regulatory amendments that require vessel monitoring systems onboard vessels that are used to participate in the BSAI Atka mackerel fishery (65 FR 61264, October 17, 2000), an extension of the Pacific halibut donation program beyond 2000 (65 FR 78119, December 14, 2000), adjustments to observer coverage requirements established for the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program (65 FR 69483, November 17, 2000), and an extension of regulations governing observer coverage for the Alaska groundfish fisheries beyond 2000 (65 FR 80381, December 21, 2000).

Specific Elements of the 2001 Management Measures

The measures proposed to be implemented in this emergency rule, as well as for the remainder of 2001, are discussed below. Initially, NMFS did not contemplate a one-year phase-in for the RPA. However, after consideration of Public Law 106-554 (signed into law on December 21, 2001), NMFS reassessed 2001 protection measures relative to the concept of a phase-in. This assessment was conducted under the objective of maintaining strict adherence to ESA standards for no jeopardy to endangered listed species or adverse modification to their critical habitat during the one-year phase-in period. NMFS determined, as previously explained, that the short time period until full implementation of the protection measures is achieved (January 1, 2002), along with immediate implementation of many of the protection measures by this emergency rule, will ensure that the fisheries are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or destroy or adversely modify the critical habitat of any listed species during the period of the phase-in.

Specifically, Steller sea lion protection measures that are being put into place in this emergency rule as of January 20, 2001, affecting fishing for all of 2001 that are in addition to status quo fishing under the current FMP, include measures that were in place as RFRPAs under the previous biological opinion for all areas: (1) No transit zones within 3 nm of 37 rookery sites, (2) closure within 10 or 20 nm of 37 rookeries to all trawling year-round, and (3) closure to pollock fishing within 10 or 20 nm of 75 haulouts, seasonally or year-round based on use by sea lions. In the Bering Sea pollock fishery measures include: (1) Four seasons with harvest limits within sea lion critical habitat foraging areas; and (2) two seasons (40:60 percent allocation) outside critical habitat, continuation of Bering Sea fishery cooperatives established under the American Fisheries Act, and the Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery distributed over 4 seasons (30:15:30:25 percent allocation). In the Atka mackerel fishery, measures include: (1) A VMS requirement, (2) continuation of two equal seasons, (3)restrictions on harvests in critical habitat and new, reduced 2001 critical habitat harvest limits for Atka mackerel in the Aleutian Islands.

Measures from the RPA in the comprehensive 2000 biological opinion that have never been implemented before, but will be effective January 20, 2001, reflecting the fact that the pollock roe fisheries and the GOA Pacific cod fishery (all gears) and the BSAI trawl Pacific cod fishery typically conclude by mid-March include: (1) Prohibiting groundfish fishing by federally permitted vessels within 3 nm of more than 75 important haulout sites identified under established criteria, (2) establishing two fishing seasons for Pacific cod, January 1-June 10 (60 percent of the allocation) and June 11-December 31 (40 percent), (3) reduction of the allowable catch for Gulf of Alaska pollock from the Council's recommended 2001 level by 10 percent (reduction is less than the 20 percent reduction calculated under the Global Control Rule developed under the biological opinion because it is limited by the new appropriations law (P.L. 106-554)), and (4) a cap of the 2001 Bering Sea pollock harvest in the Steller sea lion conservation area to no more than the amount authorized in the final 2000 harvest specifications, effectively capping the Bering Sea pollock harvest in critical habitat at the 2000 level until the biological opinion is fully implemented in 2002. Additionally, by June 10, 2001, the emergency rule would implement the closed areas contained in the biological opinion for the pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel fisheries. The Council would

have the opportunity to suggest modifications to these closures for the remainder of 2001 provided they meet the requirements of the biological opinion (
e.g.,
close at least 50 percent of critical habitat to the three fisheries and maximize protection of Steller sea lion pups and juveniles). The full RPA would be implemented by January of 2002, including additional seasonal restrictions and harvest limits, unless alternative strategies are developed that meet the objectives of the RPA in removing jeopardy and adverse modification.

After reviewing this phase-in as an alternative strategy for implementation of Steller sea lion protection measures, NMFS has determined that it is a reasonable alternative way to implement the RPA while maintaining the goal of removing the threat of jeopardy and adverse modification from this fishery, provided that the phase-in is complete by January of 2002. This conclusion was reached because, if we assume that the average annual 4 percent rate of decline for Steller sea lions over the past decade is due to fishing, as discussed in the biological opinion (2000), immediate implementation of the RPA is expected to reverse that rate of decline to a level around minus 0.7 percent by the end of 2001, although this rate would likely not be detectable for four years. Using the phase-in approach, NMFS expects the measures being implemented in January and June of 2001 to reduce the average annual rate of decline in 2001 to between approximately minus 2.0 and minus 2.5 percent. The one-year time frame for achieving the effect of full RPA implementation (minus 0.7 percent rate) would have an undetectable effect on the recovery and sustainability of the Steller sea lion population. This represents the most reasonable method of complying with all applicable law, including P.L. 106-554 (which did not exist at time of development of the original RPA)and the ESA.

The 2001 protection measures that are implemented in January and June address the competition between the groundfish fishery and non-human predators in the marine ecosystem in several ways. First, these measures as described will modify the existing harvest control rule to ensure that during 2001 enough prey resources exist overall and that prey densities are sufficient to supply all competitors on a large scale. Second, the protection measures will distribute the catch of important prey species over space and time to reduce the effects of localized depletion. Localized depletion is the reduction of prey resources below a threshold necessary to effectively supply predators in a specific area during a specific time period. Finally, the RPA will prohibit fishing in areas immediately surrounding rookery and haulout sites and curtail fishing for important prey species in significant portions of designated critical habitat to relieve competition in areas considered important to Steller sea lion survival and recovery.

Modify the Existing Harvest Control Rule

The RPA includes a modification of the existing harvest control rule for pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel. NMFS currently uses a harvest control rule when determining the maximum allowable biological catch (ABC). Under the existing control rule, ABC for a majority of stocks, including pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel, is based on a fishing mortality rate that would reduce the spawning biomass per recruit to 40 percent of its unfished level, if the biomass of the target stock is projected to be at or above a biomass necessary to achieve maximum sustainable yield. However, if the biomass of the target stock is projected to be below a biomass necessary to achieve maximum sustainable yield, then the fishing mortality rate is reduced in a linear fashion until the biomass is 5 percent of a biomass necessary to achieve maximum sustainable yield. At this point, when the spawning biomass per recruit of the target stock is reduced to 2 percent of its unfished level, the fishing mortality rate is 0, and all fishing for that target stock is stopped.

The modification of the existing control rule contained in the RPA (also known as the Global Control Rule) will require a more aggressive linear reduction in fishing mortality rate when the biomass of a pollock, Pacific cod, or Atka mackerel stock is projected to be below a biomass necessary to achieve maximum sustainable yield. This means that the fishing mortality rate will be reduced more rapidly when the biomass of the target stock is projected to be below a biomass necessary to achieve maximum sustainable yield. This adjustment to the fishing mortality rate also means that all fishing for a target species would stop when the spawning biomass per recruit of the target stock is reduced to 20 percent of its unfished level, rather than when the spawning biomass per recruit of the target stock is reduced to 2 percent of its unfished level as in the existing control rule. The Global Control Rule is designed to ensure adequate levels of each prey species is maintained for Steller sea lions by more rapidly reducing the fishing mortality rate when the biomass of the target stock is projected to be below a biomass necessary to achieve maximum sustainable yield and by stopping fishing for those prey species when their population size is 10 times larger than under the existing control rule.

The application of the Global Control Rule in 2001 is modified by Public Law 106-554, which provides at section 209(c)(5) that “[t]he harvest reduction requirement (‘Global Control Rule’) shall take effect immediately in any 2001 groundfish fishery in which it applies, but shall not cause a reduction in the total allowable catch of any fishery of more than 10 percent.” Based on this provision, the reduction in the amount of GOA pollock that can be harvested in 2001 will be limited to 10 percent of the total allowable catch for that species. This reduction is less than the 20 percent reduction calculated under the Global Control Rule developed under the biological opinion because it as limited by the subsequent requirements of implementation of Public Law 106-554. The Global Control Rule will be fully implemented in 2002.

Distribution of the Catch of Prey Species Over Time and Area

The 2001 Steller sea lion protection measures include fishing seasons
1

for pollock, Pacific cod, Atka mackerel, and BS pollock critical habitat harvest limits. Seasons for pollock and Atka mackerel for 2001 remain the same as under Steller sea lion protection measures implemented in 2000. This is consistent with the RPA. For Pacific cod, the RPA also required two seasons outside critical habitat and four seasons inside critical habitat. The 2001 protection measures will implement two new seasons for Pacific cod that did not exist in 2000, phasing in full implementation of the four seasons by 2002. These new seasons for Pacific cod, like the seasons for pollock and Atka mackerel, will distribute the affected fisheries over time. Critical habitat harvest limits for pollock and Atka mackerel will be implemented by this emergency rule consistent with the requirements of the RPA. Critical habitat harvest limits for Pacific cod will be implemented by January 1, 2002, when it will become more practicable for NMFS to monitor smaller vessels that are used to fish for Pacific cod. For example, more effective monitoring and enforcement of harvest limits would include use of tools like vessel monitoring systems and electronic

logbooks. Critical habitat limits will distribute the affected fisheries over area.

1
Times for all openings and closures of seasons are specified in 50 CFR 679.23.

1. BSAI Pollock Seasons and Critical Habitat Limits

Fishing for pollock in the BSAI during the first half of 2001 will be conducted in the same manner as in 2000. This emergency rule will continue to prohibit directed fishing for pollock in the Aleutian Islands subarea (AI). Fishing seasons also are continued for the four sectors of the Bering Sea pollock fishery that are defined in the AFA. These fishing seasons are summarized in Table 1.

This emergency rule extends the repeal of the “fair start” provisions that required vessels fishing for pollock in the Bering Sea to cease fishing for groundfish during the week preceding each pollock season or face a mandatory stand-down period during the first week of the pollock season. The Council determined that these fair start requirements were no longer necessary given the changes to the pollock fishery that occurred under the AFA.

The biological opinion notes that in order to maximize protection of Steller sea lion pups and juveniles, at least 50 percent of critical habitat should be closed to pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel fishing and that closed areas must provide for the statistical design of a monitoring program that will evaluate the effectiveness of protection measures. This emergency rule also will extend the use of the Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) established by the emergency rule published January 25, 2000 (65 FR 3892). However, these are only adequate as part of an overall phase-in approach that will implement the full closure scenario (or an equally effective alternative approach) contemplated by the RPA in the 2000 biological opinion by 2002. The SCA includes the portion of Bering Sea critical habitat known as the Bogoslof foraging area and the portion of the Catcher Vessel Operational Area (CVOA) that extends eastward from the Bogoslof foraging area. This eastern block of the CVOA overlaps with the pollock trawl exclusion zone for Sea Lion Rocks (Amak Island). Inclusion of this eastern block in the SCA is necessary to provide sufficient protection from concentrated fishing and resulting localized depletions of sea lion prey in (1) the narrow corridor between the Bogoslof foraging area and the Sea Lion Rocks (Amak Island) trawl exclusion zone and (2) the adjacent portions of critical habitat.

The SCA consists of the area of the Bering Sea between 170°00′ W longitude and 163°00′ W longitude, south of straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed:

55°00′ N lat 170°00′ W long.;

55°00′ N lat 168°00′ W long.;

55°30′ N lat 168°00′ W long.;

55°30′ N lat 166°00′ W long.;

56°00′ N lat 166°00′ W long.;

56°00′ N lat 163°00′ W long.

This emergency rule specifies the amount of the annual total allowable catch (TAC), that can be taken from the SCA in each season listed in Table 1. The TAC is equal to the sum of each sector's directed fishing allowance (DFA) plus the incidental catch allowance (ICA). This amount is capped at the harvest amounts authorized for 2000 until the full RPA is implemented in 2002. Effectively, the SCA allocations using the 2000 TACs is 149,208 mt higher than under the full RPA. Although the 2000 harvest levels were based on specified percentages of the 2000 pollock TAC, the 2001 SCA harvest limits are established as the actual 2000 harvest limit in metric tons. The pollock SCA harvest limit specified for each industry sector is further apportioned to the fishing seasons identified in Table 1 according to the percentages set out in the emergency rule published in the
Federal Register
on January 25, 2000 (65 FR 3892). As a result, each sector's 2001 seasonal harvest limit in the SCA is unchanged from the tonnage level specified for 2000, except to the extent that NMFS adjusts the ICA (See Part II and § 679.22(a)(11)(iv)(E)(1) for specific amounts in metric tons). Further, the increase in the Bering Sea pollock TAC in 2001 from 2000, which occurred because more pollock is available for harvest in 2001, will be harvested outside the SCA. This action is taken to further ensure adequate prey resources inside critical habitat.

Table 1.—Bering Sea Subarea Pollock Fishing Seasons for All Sectors

Bering Sea subarea—
Season
A
B
C
D

Outside the SCA
1

January 20-June 10 (combined A/B season)
June 10-November 1 (combined C/D season)

Inside the SCA
Jan. 20-April 1
April 1-June 10
June 10-Aug. 20
Aug. 20-Nov. 11

1
For the area outside the SCA, there will be two seasonal pairs, A/B and C/D, that are allocated the annual Bering Sea subarea directed fishing allowance by sector.

NMFS will monitor catch by each industry sector and close the SCA to directed fishing for pollock by sector when NMFS determines that the specified SCA limit has been reached. In accordance with the Council's intent to address small vessel safety concerns, inshore catcher vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA will continue to be exempt from SCA closures during the fall and winter months unless the cap for the inshore sector has been reached. Under the authority of the AFA, NMFS will separate the inshore fishery into cooperative and non-cooperative sector allocations. For each sector, NMFS will announce the closure of the SCA to catcher vessels over 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA before the inshore sector SCA limit is reached. NMFS will implement the closure in a manner intended to leave remaining quota within the SCA that is sufficient to support directed fishing for pollock by vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA for the duration of the inshore sector opening. This measure will be implemented only during the A, B, and D seasons because of Council's intent to address vessel safety concerns during these time periods of severe weather.

Over harvest and under harvest of SCA amounts may be “rolled over” from the A season SCA limit to the B season SCA limit so that no single season exceeds 15 percent of the annual TAC, and that the combined A/B limit inside the SCA of 20 percent is not exceeded.

2. BSAI Atka Mackerel Seasons and Critical Habitat Limits

As required by P.L. 106-554, fishing for Atka mackerel in the BSAI during the first half of the 2001 will be conducted as specified in current regulations. As such, critical habitat limits in the western and central

Aleutian Islands districts will be reduced as required under existing regulations at 50 CFR 679.22(a)(8)(iii)(B). The A season for Atka mackerel will begin January 1, 2001, and end April 15, 2001. The B season will begin September 1, 2001, and end November 1, 2001. Fifty percent of the annual TACs for the western, central, and eastern Aleutian Islands districts is available during each season. Critical habitat harvest limits on the amount of 2001 TAC apportioned to the respective areas during each season are: Western area, 48 percent; central area, 46 percent; and eastern area, 0 percent.

This emergency rule makes two general changes to the regulations governing the Atka mackerel fishery not specific to implementing the biological opinion, but that require change. First, correction is made to regulations at § 679.20(c)(2)(ii) that establish annual interim harvest amounts to indicate that in any given year the first proposed seasonal allowance of Atka mackerel TACs would be available at the beginning of the fishing year as interim TAC amounts until superseded by final harvest specifications. Second, a regulatory reference to 50 CFR part 226 at § 679.22(a)(8)(iii)(A) is removed. Instead, the regulations now refer to a new Table 21 in 50 CFR part 679 that contains a complete list of corrected rookery and haulout sites that are used to identify different fishery restrictions surrounding these areas and implemented under 50 CFR part 679.

3. BSAI and GOA Pacific Cod Seasons

This emergency rule separates the BSAI and GOA Pacific cod TACs into two separate seasonal allowances, a change from prior years in which there were no seasonal splits. The new A season begins on January 1, 2001, and ends June 10, 2001. Sixty percent of the annual TAC of BSAI and GOA Pacific cod, after subtraction of any reserves and incidental catch, will be available for harvest during the A season and will be apportioned among the various sectors as provided in §§ 679.20(a)(6)(iii) and 679.20(a)(7). The new B season begins at noon A.l.t. on June 10, 2001, and ends on December 31, 2001. Forty percent of the annual TAC of BSAI Pacific cod, after subtraction of any reserves and incidental catch, will be available for harvest during the B season and will be apportioned among the various sectors as provided in §§ 679.20(a)(6)(iii) and 679.20(a)(7). Apportioning Pacific cod between two seasons will affect the ability of fishermen to fully utilize the TAC for Pacific cod. Pacific cod tends to aggregate during the early part of the calendar year and is easier to locate and catch. In previous years, a large portion of the Pacific cod TAC was taken during the early part of the calendar year. Also, as Pacific cod becomes disaggregated, the increased fishing time and effort to catch the same amount of fish means commensurate increases in bycatch, which also can affect the success of fully utilizing the TAC. Finally, these effects will be further exacerbated in future years because the 60/40 percentage split between the A and B seasons will be in place for 2001 only. In subsequent years, the percentage split will be changed to 40 percent in the A season and 60 percent in the B season. This change is consistent with the conclusions in the Comprehensive BiOp, which indicated that a greater proportion of essential prey should be made available to Steller sea lions during the winter season. Any over harvest or under harvest of Pacific cod harvest from the A season may be subtracted from or added to the subsequent B season.

4. GOA Pollock Seasons

In accordance with P.L. 106-544, fishing for pollock in the GOA during the first half of the 2001 will be conducted in the same manner as in 2000. Fishing seasons and pollock TAC apportionments in the Western and Central (W/C) Regulatory Areas of the GOA are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2.—Pollock Fishing Seasons and TAC Apportionments for the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska

Season

TAC
apportionment (in percent)

Season dates

A
30
January 20-March 1.

B
15
March 15-May 31.

C
30
August 20-September 15.

D
25
October 1-November 1.

The TAC for pollock during the A/B season in the combined W/C Regulatory Areas will continue to be apportioned among Statistical Areas 610, Shelikof Strait, and areas 620 and 630 outside of Shelikof Strait in proportion to the distribution of the pollock biomass as determined by the most recent NMFS surveys. Consistent with current regulations, pollock fishing seasons are not established for the Eastern Regulatory Area.

In the GOA, overall pollock fishery harvest rates have varied from about 5 percent of the total biomass to about 10 percent since 1990. From 1994 to 1999, the estimated harvest rate in Shelikof Strait has been on the order of 1 percent to 3 percent of the total biomass, well below the overall harvest rate for the GOA. This discrepancy suggests that the biomass of pollock in Shelikof Strait is under-utilized relative to the biomass of pollock outside the Strait. Therefore, pollock biomass outside the Strait must be over-utilized relative to the overall harvest rate. This relative over-utilization of pollock outside Shelikof Strait could have had a detrimental effect on the availability of pollock to Steller sea lions in those outer regions. To ameliorate this effect, Shelikof Strait received a separate apportionment in 2000. This separate apportionment will continue with this emergency rule.

The Shelikof Strait conservation area is defined as the area bounded by straight lines and shoreline connecting the following coordinates in the following order:

58°51′ N lat 153°15′ W long.;

58°51′ N lat 152°00′ W long.; and, the intersection of 152°00′ W long with Afognak Island; aligned counterclockwise around the shoreline of Afognak, Kodiak, and Raspberry Islands to

57°00′ N lat 154°00′ W long.;

56°30′ N lat 154°00′ W long.;

56°30′ N lat 155°00′ W long.;

56°00′ N lat 155°00′ W long.;

56°00′ N lat 157°00′ W long.; and the intersection of 157°00′ W long. with the Alaska Peninsula.

As in 2000, the Shelikof Strait conservation area TAC apportionment is determined for the A and B seasons based on the most recent winter

hydroacoustic survey data. Specific harvest amounts can be found under Part II of this action. The GOA TAC for areas 610, 620, and 630 outside of the Shelikof Strait conservation area, will be determined based on the biomass available outside of Shelikof Strait. NMFS will prohibit directed fishing for pollock within Shelikof Strait when the seasonal apportionment of the pollock TAC for the Shelikof Strait conservation area has been reached.

The 300,000 lb (136 mt) trip limit for catcher vessels harvesting pollock in the directed pollock fisheries of the GOA supports the temporal distribution objectives of the RPA and is maintained by this rule. A catcher vessel fishing for groundfish in the GOA will be prohibited from retaining on board more than 300,000 lb (136 mt) of pollock harvested in the GOA. This trip limit will not exempt vessels from existing regulations that require 100 percent retention of pollock when directed fishing for pollock is open. A vessel would have to stop fishing for pollock during a fishing trip before the 300,000 lb (136 mt) trip limit is reached to avoid a violation of either the 300,000 lb (136 mt) trip limit or the 100 percent retention requirement for pollock.

In addition, to prevent the large scale use of tender vessels to avoid the trip limit restriction, this rule also will continue to prohibit vessels from operating as tenders in the GOA east of 157°00′ W longitude. Vessels operating as tenders in the GOA west of 157°00′ W longitude will be prohibited from retaining on board more than 600,000 lb (272 mt) (the equivalent of two fishing trips) of unprocessed pollock that was harvested in the GOA. Tendering west of 157°00′ W longitude is allowed because smaller vessels delivering to Sand Point and King Cove are more dependent on tenders than the larger vessels that operate east of 157°00′ W longitude and deliver primarily to Kodiak.

Closed Areas

The RPA recognized the existing 3 nautical mile (nm) no-entry zones around rookeries listed in 50 CFR 223.202. Those regulations are still in effect. Those sites that are subject to the no-entry zones under 50 CFR 223.202 are also listed in Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 for fishing closures. However, persons should refer to 50 CFR 223.202 for the appropriate locations of the no-entry zones. In some cases those locations may be different than locations for the same sites that are also listed in Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679. NMFS apologizes for any confusion that these differences may cause and plans to rectify any differences in the near future. However, until that occurs, persons are advised to consult with 50 CFR 223.202 for the proper location of no-entry zones and Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 for proper location of sites for fishery closures.

This emergency rule closes designated haulout areas to directed fishing for groundfish consistent with the conclusion in the Comprehensive BiOp that protecting areas immediately surrounding rookery and haulout sites is particularly critical to Steller sea lion survival and recovery. These closures prohibit all federally-permitted groundfish vessels from fishing within 3 nm of haulouts designated as protection zones for the pollock fishery in 2000. These haulout sites are listed in Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 and were identified as important to the foraging needs of Steller sea lions in the 1998-1 BiOp and in the RFRPAs for the pollock fishery.

These closed areas, as well as others discussed below, are designed to provide sufficient protection to Steller sea lions, consistent with the hierarchy of concerns established in the Comprehensive BiOp, as well as previous biological opinions. The hierarchy of concerns indicates that concerns about the effects of the groundfish fisheries on Steller sea lions are greatest around rookeries and haulouts. Protecting rookeries and haulouts is important so that the most vulnerable Steller sea lions, lactating females, young-of-the-year, and juveniles, are provided access to essential prey resources.

Under this emergency rule, a another type of closure of areas deemed important to Steller sea lions will become effective on June 10. These closures were identified in the Comprehensive BiOp under the RPA and will prohibit directed fishing for pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel in 66 percent of Steller sea lion critical habitat. These closed areas include portions of Steller sea lion forage area, as well as a subset of the rookeries and haulouts listed in Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679.

Pollock Trawl Exclusion Zones

Under Public Law 106-554, regulations that governed the 2000 pollock fishery off Alaska are extended into 2001 except as modified through this rule. Thus, the Aleutian Islands closure to directed pollock fishing is extended into 2001. The Aleutian Islands closure originally was implemented in 1999 and is designed to protect the waters surrounding rookeries and major haulouts of Steller sea lions in and around the Aleutian Islands.

The prohibition on directed fishing for pollock within either 10 or 20 nm of rookeries and important haulouts in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska also is extended consistent with Public Law 106-554. The location, size, and period of each exclusion zone are set out in Table 21 of this emergency rule. Note that the location of some of these sites and extent of closed areas around these sites are different from the sites defined as critical habitat in 50 CFR 226.202. Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 does not define critical habitat. Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 defines protection zones for Steller sea lions as required by the RPA and site locations are based on new information gained from recent surveys of the Steller sea lion sites. Similar to the site locations in 50 CFR 223.202, NMFS intends to update site locations in 50 CFR part 226 by proposed and final rulemaking in the near future based on this new information. This update will ensure consistency between site locations listed in Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 and in 50 CFR part 226. However, the public is advised that the site locations in the Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679 are the ones to be used for purposes of compliance with this rule.

NMFS developed these exclusion zones on the basis of 10 Steller sea lion counts conducted since 1979, during the reproductive season (summer) and non-reproductive season (winter). NMFS used the following criteria to identify sites that require exclusion zones and to determine the period of the closure and the radius of the zone:

1.
Rookeries.
If the site is a rookery, a 10 or 20-nm year-round pollock trawl exclusion zone.

2.
Summer haulouts.
If the site is a summer haulout, with greater than 200 sea lions in a summer survey since 1979, and fewer than 75 sea lions in winter surveys since 1979, a 10 or 20-nm exclusion zone from June 1 through November 1.

3.
Winter haulouts.
If the site is a winter haulout, with less than 200 sea lions in summer surveys since 1979, and greater than 75 sea lions in a winter survey since 1979, a 10 or 20-nm exclusion zone from November 1 through June 1.

4.
Year-round haulouts.
If the site is a year-round haulout with greater than 200 sea lions in a summer survey since 1979, and greater than 75 sea lions in a winter survey since 1979, a 10 or 20 nm year-round exclusion zone.

In the Bering Sea, the Walrus Island rookery meets the requirements under the guidelines in the RPA for closure to 20 nm. However, because this site falls

entirely within the Pribilof Island Area Habitat Conservation Zone (see § 679.22(a)(6)), which is closed to trawling year-round, a 20-nm closure of this area to directed fishing for pollock would be redundant and is not necessary.

In the GOA, two of the haulout sites that qualify for closure to 10 nm under criteria in the 1998-1 BiOp, Point Elrington and The Needles, lie entirely within Alaska State waters. The State of Alaska has developed protection measures for these haulouts similar to Federal protection measures that provide for spatial and temporal distribution of pollock harvests. Therefore, these sites are not established as exclusion zones under this emergency rule.

This rule closes another GOA site, Sea Lion Rocks, for a radius of 10 nm to all vessels longer than 60 ft (18.3 m) length overall (LOA). Sea Lion rocks will not be closed to vessels less than or equal to 60 ft (18.3 m) LOA between 3 nm and 10 nm due to the relatively lower levels of harvests by such vessels and safety concerns for small boats in the region. Historically, from 1994 through 1998, vessels longer than 60 ft (18.3 m) LOA have accounted for 72 percent of total harvests in this area.

Catcher Vessel Exclusive Fishing Seasons

In 2000, the Council recommended that catcher vessels be prohibited from participating in directed fishing for pollock in both the BS and GOA in concurrent seasons, except for catcher vessels less than 125 ft (38.1 m) LOA that fish in the GOA east of 157°00′ W longitude. For example, if a catcher vessel chose to participate in the combined BS A/B season, it would not be eligible to participate in the W/C GOA until the start of the GOA C season. Similarly, if a catcher vessel chose to participate in the GOA A season, it would not be eligible to participate in the BS until the start of the next BS season, which would be the C/D season.

Part II. Specifications

The FMP and its implementing regulations require NMFS, after consultation with the Council, to specify annually the total allowable catch (TAC) for each target species and for the “other species” category, the sum of which must be within the optimum yield range of 1.4 million to 2.0 million metric tons (mt) for the BSAI and within the optimum yield range of 116,000 mt to 800,000 mt for the GOA (§ 679.20(a)(1)).

NMFS is implementing the 2001 TAC specifications for the BSAI and GOA through this emergency rule. The normal procedure of publishing proposed, interim, and final TAC specifications was not followed in 2001 because of the impracticability of publishing proposed specifications prior to the issuance of the Comprehensive BiOp. NMFS anticipated that changes required by the Comprehensive BiOp to protect endangered Steller sea lions would have a significant enough impact on proposed harvest specifications for the BSAI and GOA to require republication of the proposed specifications. To avoid the uncertainty and disruption to the fisheries that would have been caused by republishing proposed specifications, including a potential delay to the season because the Comprehensive BiOp was not due out until November 30, 2000, NMFS decided to use its authority to issue the final 2001 specifications by emergency rule. NMFS anticipates that the normal procedure will be used to implement harvest specifications in the future.

This emergency interim rule includes the following provisions for the BSAI and GOA: (1) Specifications of overfishing levels (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), and total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for each groundfish species category; (2) apportionments of reserves; (3) allocations of the sablefish TAC to vessels using hook-and-line and trawl gear; (4) apportionments of pollock TAC among regulatory areas, seasons, and allocations among different industry sectors including Bering Sea fishery cooperatives; (5) apportionments of Pacific cod TAC among regulatory areas, seasons, and allocations among different industry sectors; (6) apportionment of Atka mackerel in the BSAI among seasons, gear, and regulatory areas; (7) PSC limits; (8) fishery and seasonal apportionments of the Pacific halibut PSC limits; (9) fishery apportionments of other PSC limits in the BSAI; (10) Pacific halibut assumed discard mortality rates; (11) groundfish harvest and PSC limitations for AFA vessels; and (12) closures to directed fishing for specified groundfish targets. A discussion of each of these measures follows.

Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and TAC Specifications

The final ABC levels are based on the best available scientific information, including projected biomass trends, information on assumed distribution of stock biomass, and revised technical methods used to calculate stock biomass. The FMPs specify the formulas, or tiers, to be used in computing ABCs and overfishing levels. The formulas applicable to a particular stock or stock complex are determined by the level of reliable information available to fishery scientists. This information is categorized into a successive series of six tiers.

In December 2000, the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), Advisory Panel (AP), and Council reviewed current biological information about the condition of groundfish stocks in the BSAI and GOA. This information was compiled by the Council's Plan Teams and is presented in the final 2001 SAFE reports for the BSAI and GOA groundfish fisheries, dated November 2000 (See
ADDRESSES
). The SAFE reports contain a review of the latest scientific analyses and estimates of each species' biomass and other biological parameters, as well as summaries of the available information on the BSAI and GOA ecosystem and the economic condition of groundfish fisheries off Alaska. From these data and analyses, the Plan Teams estimate an ABC for each species or species category.

The Council considered the ecological, socioeconomic, and ecosystem information in the SAFE reports, recommendations from its SSC and AP, as well as public testimony when recommending ABCs and TACs at its December 2000 meeting. The Council also reviewed their recommended ABC and TAC recommendations at an emergency meeting during January 2001, relative to the emergency rule provisions for SSL protection measures.

The final specifications are set forth in Tables 3 through 30 of this action. For 2001, the sum of TACs is 2 million mt in the BSAI and 285,994 mt in the GOA.

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area

In December 2000, the SSC, AP, and Council reviewed the BSAI Plan Team's recommendations for OFL and ABC levels. Except for Bogoslof pollock, Atka mackerel and the “other species” category, the SSC, AP, and Council endorsed the Plan Team's ABC recommendations. Based on the best available information, the SSC recommended lower ABCs for Bogoslof pollock and the “other species” category and slightly higher ABCs for Atka mackerel than the Plan Team recommended. For Bogoslof pollock, the SSC recommended a lower ABC than the Plan Team by reducing the fishing mortality based on the ratio of the current biomass to a target biomass of about 2 million mt. For “other species,”

the Plan Team recommended an ABC based on mean catch since 1977. The SSC disagreed with this approach and recommended using a Tier 5 approach under the FMP. For Atka mackerel, the SSC adopted a slightly higher ABC than the Plan Team by increasing the fishing mortality rate. For all species, the AP endorsed the ABCs recommended by the SSC, and the Council adopted the AP's recommendations.

The Council's TAC recommendations were based on the ABCs as adjusted for other biological and socioeconomic considerations, including maintaining the total TAC within the required OY range of 1.4 million to 2.0 million mt. The Council adopted the AP's TAC recommendations with the exception of the “other red rockfish.”

Through 2000, the “other red rockfish” complex was comprised of northern, sharpchin, rougheye, and shortraker rockfish in the Bering Sea subarea. In the Aleutian Islands subarea, this complex was split out into two groups comprised of northern/sharpchin and rougheye/shortraker rockfish. For 2001, the Council recommended species-specific BSAI OFLs and ABCs for each species in the “other red rockfish” complex to reduce the potential for one species to be fished disproportionately to its abundance and resulting overfishing concerns.

For the non-CDQ fisheries, the Council recommended separate TACs for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands subareas for each of the four species in the other red rockfish complex. To further reduce the potential for differential harvesting, the Council recommended that these species be placed on bycatch only status in 2001. The Council also recommended that sharpchin rockfish, which were previously included in the “other red rockfish” complex, be moved into the other rockfish complex.

NMFS agrees with these recommendations, but will not be able to implement all of them in 2001 due to unanticipated monitoring constraints in the fixed gear fisheries. These species are reported by observers using group species codes, which, under current observer procedures, cannot be separated into specific species and incorporated into routine observer reports prior to the 2001 fishing year. Thus NMFS is modifying the Council's recommendation and is establishing BSAI wide OFL and ABC amounts for sharpchin/northern and rougheye/shortraker rockfish. The Bering Sea subarea now will be managed as the Aleutian Islands subarea has in the past, with two groups: Sharpchin/northern rockfish and shortraker/rougheye rockfish. Splitting the Bering Sea subarea “other red rockfish” complex into two groups addresses overfishing concern by decreasing the TAC amounts. To remain consistent with previous years' management, until species specific reporting is feasible, sharpchin rockfish will remain in a group with northern rockfish instead of being placed in the other rockfish group. The final ABCs as recommended by the Council and modified and approved by NMFS are listed in Table 3.

The Council recommended that the Bering Sea “other red rockfish” species category not be separated into individual species groups for the CDQ fisheries. The CDQ reserves for rockfish are 7.5 percent of the TAC. If CDQ reserves were specified for the new rockfish TAC categories, they would be 1.4 mt for Bering Sea sharpchin/northern and 8.7 mt for Bering Sea shortraker/rougheye. If these CDQ reserves were further divided among the six CDQ groups, the sharpchin/northern rockfish CDQ amounts available to each group would be between 100 kg and 325 kg. The Council recommended not splitting out the CDQ reserves to the individual species group because these small quotas could prevent the CDQ groups from harvesting much of their other groundfish CDQs. Therefore, consistent with Council intent to avoid premature closure of the CDQ fisheries, NMFS will continue to specify the CDQ reserve for the Bering Sea “other red rockfish” complex. The CDQ reserve for this complex will be calculated as the sum of an amount equal to 7.5 percent of the TAC for Bering Sea shortraker/rougheye plus 7.5 percent of the TAC for sharpchin/northern, for a total of 10 mt to the CDQ reserve for the “other red rockfish” complex. The Aleutian Islands rockfish TAC categories will remain the same in 2001 as in 2000 for both the CDQ and non-CDQ fisheries.

None of the Council's recommended TACs for 2001 exceeds the final ABC for any species category. NMFS finds that the Council's recommended TACs are consistent with the biological condition of groundfish stocks as described in the 2001 SAFE document and approves them with the exception of the “other red rockfish” complex. NMFS has modified the Council's TAC recommendations for this complex as described above to accommodate monitoring and reporting constraints.

Table 3 lists the 2001 OFL, ABC, TAC, ITAC, and Community Development Quota (CDQ) reserve amounts, overfishing levels, and initial apportionments of groundfish in the BSAI. The apportionment of TAC amounts among fisheries and seasons is discussed below.

Table 3.—2001 Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC), Total Allowable Catch (TAC), Initial Tac (ITAC), CDQ Reserve Allocation, and Overfishing Levels of Groundfish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI)
1

[All amounts are in metric tons]

Species
Area
Overfishing level
ABC
TAC

ITAC
2

CDQ

reserve
3

Pollock
4

Bering Sea (BS)
3,536,000
1,842,000
1,400,000
1,209,600
140,000

Aleutian Islands (AI)
31,700
23,800
2,000
1,800
200

Bogoslof District
60,200
8,470
1,000
900
100

Pacific cod
BSAI
248,000
188,000
188,000
159,800
14,100

Sablefish
5

BS
1,910
1,560
1,560
663
215

AI
3,070
2,500
2,500
531
422

Atka mackerel
Total
138,000
69,300
69,300
58,905
5,198

Western AI

27,900
27,900
23,715
2,093

Central AI

33,600
33,600
28,560
2,520

Eastern AI/BS

7,800
7,800
6,630
585

Yellowfin sole
BSAI
209,000
176,000
113,000
96,050
8,475

Rock sole
BSAI
271,000
228,000
75,000
63,750
5,625

Greenland turbot
Total
31,000
8,400
8,400
7,140
630

BS

5,628
5,628
4,784
422

AI

2,772
2,772
2,356
208

Arrowtooth flounder
BSAI
141,500
117,000
22,011
18,709
1,651

Flathead sole
BSAI
102,000
84,000
40,000
34,000
3,000

Other flatfish
6

BSAI
147,000
122,000
28,000
23,800
2,100

Pacific ocean perch
BS
2,040
1,730
1,730
1,471
130

AI Total
11,800
10,200
10,200
8,670
765

Western AI

4,740
4,740
4,029
356

Central AI

2,560
2,560
2,176
192

Eastern AI

2,900
2,900
2,465
218

Sharpchin/Northern
7

BSAI
9,020
6,764
6,764
5,749

BS

19
16

(
7
)

AI

6,745
5,733
506

Shortraker/Rougheye
7

BSAI
1,369
1,028
1,028
874

BS

116
99

(
7
)

AI

912
775
68

Other rockfish
8

BS
482
361
361
307
27

AI
901
676
676
575
51

Squid
BSAI
2,620
1,970
1,970
1,675
148

Other species
9

BSAI
69,000
33,600
26,500
22,525
1,988

Total
4,836,812
2,927,359
2,000,000
1,717,494
185,400

1
Amounts are in metric tons. These amounts apply to the entire Bering Sea (BS) and Aleutian Islands (AI) management area unless otherwise specified. With the exception of pollock, and for the purpose of these specifications, the Bering Sea subarea includes the Bogoslof District.

2
Except for pollock and the portion of the sablefish TAC allocated to hook-and-line or pot gear, 15 percent of each TAC is put into a reserve. The ITAC for each species is the remainder of the TAC after the subtraction of the reserve.

3
Except for pollock and the hook-and-line or pot gear allocation of sablefish, one half of the amount of the TACs placed in reserve, or 7.5 percent of the TACs, is designated as a CDQ reserve for use by CDQ participants (see § 679.31).

4
The AFA requires that 10 percent of the annual pollock TAC be allocated as a directed fishing allowance for the CDQ sector. NMFS then subtracts 4 percent of the remainder as an incidental catch allowance of pollock, which is not apportioned by season or area. The remainder is further allocated by sector as follows: inshore, 50 percent; catcher/processor, 40 percent; and motherships, 10 percent. NMFS, under regulations at § 679.24(b)(4), prohibits nonpelagic trawl gear to engage in directed fishing for non-CDQ pollock in the BSAI.

5
The ITAC for sablefish reflected in Table 3 is for trawl gear only. Regulations at § 679.20(b)(1) do not provide for the establishment of an ITAC for the hook-and-line or pot gear allocation for sablefish. Twenty percent of the sablefish TAC allocated to hook-and-line gear or pot gear and 7.5 percent of the sablefish TAC allocated to trawl gear is reserved for use by CDQ participants (see § 679.31(c)).

6
“Other flatfish” includes all flatfish species, except for Pacific halibut (a prohibited species), flathead sole, Greenland turbot, rock sole, yellowfin sole, and arrowtooth flounder.

7
The CDQ reserves for shortraker, rougheye, sharpchin, and northern rockfish will continue to be managed as the “other red rockfish” complex for the BS. For 2001 the CDQ reserve is 10 mt.

8
“Other rockfish” includes all Sebastes and Sebastolobus species except for Pacific ocean perch, sharpchin, northern, shortraker, and rougheye rockfish.

9
“Other species” includes sculpins, sharks, skates and octopus. Forage fish, as defined at § 679.2, are not included in the “other species” category.

Reserves and the Pollock Incidental Catch Allowance (ICA)

Regulations at § 679.20(b)(1)(i) require that 15 percent of the TAC for each target species or species group, except for the hook-and-line and pot gear allocation of sablefish, be placed in a non-specified reserve. The AFA supersedes this provision for pollock by requiring that the 2001 TAC for this species be fully allocated among the CDQ program, the ICA, inshore, catcher/processor, and mothership directed fishery allowances.

Regulations at § 679.20(b)(1)(iii) require that one-half of each TAC amount placed in the non-specified reserve be allocated to the groundfish CDQ reserve and that 20 percent of the hook-and-line and pot gear allocation of sablefish be allocated to the fixed gear sablefish CDQ reserve. Section 206(a) of the AFA requires that 10 percent of the pollock TAC be allocated to the pollock CDQ reserve. With the exception of the hook-and-line and pot gear sablefish CDQ reserve, the regulations do not further apportion the CDQ reserves by gear. Regulations at § 679.21(e)(1)(i) also require that 7.5 percent of each PSC limit, with the exception of herring, be withheld as a prohibited species quota (PSQ) reserve for the CDQ fisheries. Regulations governing the management of the CDQ and PSQ reserves are set forth at §§ 679.30 and 679.31.

Under section 206(b) of the AFA, NMFS allocates a pollock ICA of 4 percent of the pollock TAC after subtraction of the 10 percent CDQ reserve. This is a reduction from the 5 percent ICA specified for 2000. The 2001 allowance is based on an examination of the incidental catch of pollock in non-pollock target fisheries from 1997 through 2000. During this 4-year period, the incidental catch of pollock ranged from a low of 3 percent in 1998 to a high of about 6 percent in 1997, with a 4-year average of 4 percent. In 2000, the actual incidental catch was only 4 percent of the TAC instead of the 5 percent ICA withheld at the beginning of the year. As a result, 9,000 mt of pollock were reallocated to the directed fishing allowance for non-CDQ fisheries in the fall (65 FR 62646, October 19, 2000). Based on this experience, NMFS believes that a 2001 ICA of 4 percent is sufficient, even if incidental catch of pollock in the Pacific cod fishery increases under SSL protection measures (see Pacific cod seasons below).

The regulations do not designate the remainder of the non-specified reserve

by species or species group, and any amount of the reserve may be reapportioned to a target species or to the “other species” category during the year, providing that such reapportionments do not result in overfishing. The Regional Administrator has determined that the ITACs specified for the species listed in Table 4 need to be supplemented from the non-specified reserve because U.S. fishing vessels have demonstrated the capacity to harvest the full TAC allocations. Therefore, in accordance with § 679.20(b)(3), NMFS is apportioning the amounts shown in Table 4 from the non-specified reserve to increase the ITAC to an amount that is equal to TAC minus the CDQ reserve.

Table 4.—Apportionment of Reserves to ITAC Categories
[All amounts are in metric tons]

Species—area or subarea
Reserve amount
Final ITAC

Atka mackerel—Western Aleutian District
2,093
25,808

Atka mackerel—Central Aleutian District
2,520
31,080

Atka mackerel—Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea subarea
585
7,215

Pacific ocean perch—Western Aleutian District
356
4,385

Pacific ocean perch—Central Aleutian District
192
2,368

Pacific ocean perch—Eastern Aleutian District
218
2,683

Pacific cod—BSAI
14,100
173,900

Sharpchin/Northern rockfish-Aleutian Islands subarea
506
6,239

Shortraker/Rougheye rockfish—Aleutian Islands subarea
68
843

Greenland turbot—Bering Sea subarea
422
5,206

Greenland turbot—Aleutian Islands subarea
208
2,564

Total
21,268
262,291

Pollock Allocations Under the AFA

Section 206(a) of the AFA requires the allocation of 10 percent of the BSAI pollock TAC as a directed fishing allowance to the CDQ program. The remainder of the BSAI pollock TAC, after the subtraction of an allowance for the incidental catch of pollock by vessels, including CDQ vessels, harvesting other groundfish species, must be allocated as follows: 50 percent to catcher vessels harvesting pollock for processing by the inshore component, 40 percent to catcher/processors and catcher vessels harvesting pollock for processing by catcher/processors in the offshore component, and 10 percent to catcher vessels harvesting pollock for processing by motherships in the offshore component. These amounts are listed in Table 5.

The AFA also contains several specific requirements concerning pollock and pollock allocations. First, paragraph 210(c) of the AFA requires that not less than 8.5 percent of the pollock allocated to vessels for processing by offshore catcher/processors be available for harvest by offshore catcher vessels listed in section 208(b) harvesting pollock for processing by offshore catcher/processors listed in paragraph 208(e). Second, paragraph 208(e)(21) of the AFA specifies that catcher/processors eligible to fish for pollock under such paragraph are prohibited from harvesting in the aggregate a total of more than one-half of a percent (0.5 percent) of the pollock allocated to vessels for processing by offshore catcher/processors. Third, paragraph 210(e)(1) of the AFA specifies that no particular individual, corporation, or other entity may harvest, through a fishery cooperative or otherwise, a total of more than 17.5 percent of the pollock available to be harvested in the directed pollock fishery. Other provisions of the AFA, including inshore pollock cooperative allocations and AFA catcher vessel harvest limitations are discussed later in this section. Table 5 lists the 2001 allocations of pollock TAC as described by the AFA.

SCA Harvest Limits

As described in Part I, this emergency rule establishes pollock harvest limits in the SCA at a level that do not exceed the harvest in metric tons authorized for the 2000 fishery. These amounts, by sector, are listed in Table 5.

Table 5.—Allocations of the Pollock TAC and Directed Fishing Allowance to the Inshore, Catcher/Processor, Mothership, and CDQ Components
1

[All amounts are in metric tons]

Area and Sector
2001 DFA

A/B Season
1

A/B DFA

A SCA limit
3

B SCA Limit
3

C/D Season
1 2

C/D DFA

C SCA Limit
3

D SCA Limit
3

Bering Sea subarea
1,400,000
560,000
166,751
55,497
840,000
48,210
80,142

CDQ
140,000
56,000
28,247
9,339
84,000
9,567
15,718

ICA
4

50,400

AFA Inshore
604,800
241,920
81,802
27,267
362,880
39,440
65,734

AFA C/Ps
5

483,840
193,536
38,564
12,854
290,304
0
0

Catch by C/Ps
442,714
177,085

265,628

Catch by CVs
5

41,126
16,451

24,676

Restricted C/P cap
6

2,419
968

1,452

AFA Motherships
120,960
48,384
14,607
4,869
72,576
0
0

Excessive shares cap
7

211,680

Aleutian Islands ICA
8

2,000

Bogoslof District ICA
8

1,000

1
After subtraction for the CDQ reserve and the incidental catch allowance, the pollock TAC is allocated as follows: inshore component—50 percent, catcher/processor component—40 percent, and mothership component—10 percent. Under paragraph 206(a) of the AFA, the CDQ reserve for pollock is 10 percent. NMFS, under regulations at § 679.24(b)(4), prohibits nonpelagic trawl gear to engage in directed fishing for non-CDQ pollock in the BSAI. The A/B season, January 20—June 10, is allocated 40 percent and the C/D season, June 10—October 31 is allocated 60 percent.

2
This emergency interim rule expires on July 17, 2001, before the B season will conclude. Therefore, the B season is not fully authorized unless the emergency interim rule is extended.

3
The SCA limits are established as the amount, in metric tons, authorized for the 2000 pollock fishery (65 FR 3896, January 25, 2000).

4
The pollock incidental catch allowance for the BS subarea is 4 percent of the TAC after subtraction of the CDQ reserve.

5
Subsection 210(c) of the AFA requires that not less than 8.5 percent of the directed fishing allowance allocated to listed catcher/processors (C/Ps) shall be available for harvest only by eligible catcher vessels (CVs) delivering to listed catcher/processors.

6
The AFA requires that vessels described in section 208(e)(21) be prohibited from exceeding a harvest amount of one-half of one percent of the directed fishing allowance allocated to vessels for processing by AFA catcher/processors.

7
Paragraph 210(e)(1) of the AFA specifies that “No particular individual, corporation, or other entity may harvest, through a fishery cooperative or otherwise, a total of more than 17.5 percent of the pollock available to be harvested in the directed pollock fishery.”

8
Consistent with the RPAs, the Aleutian Islands subarea and the Bogoslof District are closed to directed fishing for pollock. The amounts specified are for incidental catch amounts only, and are not apportioned by season or sector.

Allocation of the Atka Mackerel TAC

Due to concerns about the potential impact of the Atka mackerel fishery on Steller sea lions and their critical habitat, NMFS issued regulations that implement temporal and spatial dispersion of fishing effort in the Atka mackerel fisheries. Regulations at § 679.20(a)(8)(ii) apportion the Atka mackerel ITAC into two equal seasonal allowances. After subtraction of the jig gear allocation, the first allowance is made available for directed fishing from January 1 to April 15 (A season), and the second seasonal allowance is made available from September 1 to November 1 (B season) (Table 6). According to § 679.22(a)(8), fishing with trawl gear in areas defined as Steller sea lion critical habitat (See Table 21 to 50 CFR part 679) within the Western and Central Aleutian Districts, is prohibited during each Atka mackerel season after specified percentages of the TAC are harvested within designated critical habitat areas. In 2001, the specified percentage of each seasonal allowance within critical habitat is 48 percent in the Western Aleutian District and 46 percent in the Central Aleutian District (§ 679.22(a)(8)(iii)(B)). A Steller sea lion critical habitat closure to fishing with trawl gear within an area will remain in effect until NMFS closes Atka mackerel to directed fishing within the same area. The regulations do not establish critical habitat closures based on Atka mackerel catch percentages inside critical habitat areas for the Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea subarea.

Under § 679.20(a)(8)(i), up to 2 percent of the Eastern Aleutian District and the Bering Sea subarea Atka mackerel ITAC may be allocated to the jig gear fleet. The Council determines the amount of this allocation annually, based on several criteria including the anticipated harvest capacity of the jig gear fleet. In December 2000, the Council recommended that 1 percent of the Atka mackerel TAC in the Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea subarea be allocated to the jig gear fleet based on historic harvest capacity of the fleet. NMFS finds that this is consistent with the status of the stock and with the regulatory framework stated above. Based on an ITAC of 7,215 mt, the jig gear allocation is 72 mt.

Table 6.—Seasonal and Spatial Apportionments, Gear Shares, and CDQ Reserve of the BSAI ATKA Mackerel TAC
[All amounts are in metric tons]

Subarea & component
TAC

CDQ
reserve

TACI
1

Seasonal apportionment
2

A season
3

Total

CH Limit
5

B Season
4

Total

CH limit
5

Western Aleutian District
27,900
2,093
25,808
12,904
6,194
12,904
6,194

Central Aleutian District
33,600
2,520
31,080
15,540
7,148
15,540
7,148

Eastern AI/BS subarea
6

7,800
585
7,215

Jig (1%)
7

72

Other gear (99%)

7,143
3,572

3,572

Total
69,300
5,198
64,103
32,016

32,016

1
The reserves have been released for Atka mackerel see (Table 4).

2
The seasonal apportionment of Atka mackerel is 50 percent in the A season and 50 percent in the B season.

3
The A season is January 1 through noon April 15.

4
The B season is September 1 through noon November 1.

5
Critical habitat (CH) allowance refers to the amount of each seasonal allowance that is available for fishing inside critical habitat (50 CFR part 679 Table 21). In 2001, the percentage of each seasonal allowance available for fishing inside critical habitat is 48 percent in the Western AI and 46 percent in the Central AI. When these critical habitat allowances are reached, critical habitat areas will be closed to trawling until NMFS closes Atka mackerel to directed fishing within the same district.

6
Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea subarea.

7
Regulations at § 679.20 (a)(8) require that up to 2 percent of the Eastern AI/BS area ITAC be allocated to the jig gear fleet. The amount of this allocation is 1 percent and was determined by the Council based on anticipated harvest capacity of the jig gear fleet. The jig gear allocation is not apportioned by season.

Allocation of the Pacific Cod TAC

Under § 679.20(a)(7), 2 percent of the Pacific cod ITAC is allocated to vessels using jig gear, 51 percent to vessels using hook-and-line or pot gear, and 47 percent to vessels using trawl gear. Under § 679.20(a)(7)(i)(B), the portion of the Pacific cod TAC allocated to trawl gear is further allocated 50 percent to catcher vessels and 50 percent to catcher/processors. Under regulations at § 679.20(a)(7)(i)(C)(
1
), a portion of the Pacific cod allocated to hook-and-line or pot gear is set aside as an ICA of Pacific cod in directed fisheries for groundfish other than Pacific cod by vessels using these gear types. Based on anticipated bycatch in these fisheries, the Council proposed an ICA of 500 mt. The remainder of Pacific cod is further allocated to vessels using hook-and-line or pot gear as the following directed fishing allowances: 80 percent to hook-and-line catcher/processor vessels, 0.3 percent to hook-and-line catcher vessels, 18.3 percent to pot gear vessels, and 1.4 percent to catcher vessels under 60 feet LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear.

Due to concerns about the potential impact of the Pacific cod fishery on Steller sea lions and their critical habitat, NMFS is implementing under this emergency rule temporal dispersion of fishing effort in the Pacific cod fisheries by apportioning the Pacific cod ITAC into two seasonal allowances. The first allowance, 60 percent of the ITAC, is made available for directed fishing from January 1 to June 10, and the second seasonal allowance, 40 percent of the ITAC, is made available from June 10 to December 31. Table 7 lists the 2001 allocations and seasonal apportionments of the Pacific cod ITAC.

Table 7.—2001 Gear Shares and Seasonal Apportionments of the BSAI Pacific Cod TAC

Gear sector
Percent

Share
1
(mt)

Seasonal apportionment
2

Date
Amount (mt)

Jig
2
3,478
Jan 1-Jun 10
2,087

Jun 10-Dec 31
1,391

Total hook-and-line and pot gear allocation of Pacific cod TAC
51
88,689

Hook-and-line Catcher Processors
80
70,551
Jan 1-Jun 10
42,331

Jun 10-Dec 31
28,220

Hook-and-Line Catcher Vessels
0.3
265
Jan 1-Jun 10
159

Jun 10-Dec 31
106

Pot Gear Vessels
18.3
16,139
Jan 1-Jun 10
9,683

Jun 10-Dec 31
6,455

Catcher Vessels < 60 feet LOA using Hook-and-line or Pot gear
1.4
1,235
Jan 1-Jun 10
741

Jun 10-Dec 31
494

Hook-and-line and pot gear sub-total
100
88,189

Hook-and-line and pot gear Incidental Catch Allowance

500

500

Trawl gear
47
81,733

Catcher Vessel
50
40,867
Jan 1-Jun 10
24,520

Jun 10-Dec 31
16,347

Catcher Processor
50
40,867
Jan 1-Jun 10
24,520

Jun 10-Dec 31
16,347

Total

173,900

1
The reserve have been released for Pacific cod see (Table 4).

2
The first season is allocated 60 percent of the TAC and the second season is allocated 40 percent of the TAC. Any unused portion of the first seasonal Pacific cod allowance will be reapportioned to the second seasonal allowance.

Allocation of the Shortraker and Rougheye Rockfish TAC

Under § 679.20(a)(9), the ITAC of shortraker rockfish and rougheye rockfish specified for the Aleutian Islands subarea is allocated 30 percent to vessels using non-trawl gear and 70 percent to vessels using trawl gear. Based on a 2001 ITAC of 843 mt, the trawl allocation is 590 mt and the non-trawl allocation is 253 mt.

Sablefish Gear Allocation

Regulations at § 679.20(a)(4) (iii) and (iv) require that sablefish TACs for the BS and AI subareas be allocated between trawl and hook-and-line or pot gear. Gear allocations of TACs for the Bering Sea subarea are 50 percent for trawl gear and 50 percent for hook-and-line or pot gear and for the Aleutian Islands subarea are 25 percent for trawl gear and 75 percent for hook-and-line or pot gear. Regulations at § 679.20(b)(1)(iii)(B) require that 20 percent of the hook-and-line and pot gear allocation of sablefish be reserved as sablefish CDQ. Additionally, regulations at § 679.20(b)(1)(iii)(A) require that 7.5 percent of the trawl gear allocation of sablefish (one half of the reserve) be reserved as groundfish CDQ. Gear allocations of the sablefish TAC and CDQ reserve amounts are specified in Table 8.

Table 8.—Gear Shares and CDQ Reserve of BSAI Sablefish TAC
[All amounts are in metric tons]

Subarea & gear
Percent of TAC
Share of TAC

ITAC
1

CDQ
reserve

Bering Sea:

Trawl
2

50
780
663
59

Hook-&-line/pot gear
3

50
780
N/A
156

Total
100
1,560
663
215

Aleutian Islands:

Trawl
2

25
625
531
47

Hook-&-line/pot gear
3

75
1,875
N/A
375

Total
100
2,500
531
422

1
Except for the sablefish hook-and-line and pot gear allocation, 15 percent of TAC is apportioned to reserve. The ITAC is the remainder of the TAC after the subtraction of these reserves.

2
For the portion of the sablefish TAC allocated to vessels using trawl gear, one half of the reserve (7.5 percent of the specified TAC) is reserved for the multi-species CDQ program.

3
For the portion of the sablefish TAC allocated to vessels using hook-and-line or pot gear, 20 percent of the allocated TAC is reserved for use by CDQ participants. Regulations in § 679.20(b)(1) do not provide for the establishment of an ITAC for sablefish allocated to hook-and-line or pot gear.

Allocation of Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Limits for Halibut, Crab, Salmon, and Herring

PSC limits for halibut are set in regulations at § 679.21(e). For the BSAI trawl fisheries, the limit is 3,675 mt mortality of Pacific halibut. For non-trawl fisheries, the limit is 900 mt mortality. PSC limits for crab and herring are specified annually based on abundance and spawning biomass. On June 15, 2000, the Pacific halibut and crab PSC limits and associated bycatch allowances for the BSAI trawl fisheries were reduced under regulations implementing Amendment 57 to the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the BSAI. Amendment 57 (65 FR 31105, May 16, 2000) prohibits the use of nonpelagic trawl gear in the BSAI directed fishery for pollock. The anticipated reductions in the halibut and crab bycatch resulted in corresponding reductions in the PSC limits for these species. New Chinook Salmon PSC limits were established for the BSAI pollock fishery under Amendment 58 and its implementing regulations at § 679.21(e)(1)(vii). These PSC limits are reduced annually over the next 4 year period. In 2001, the chinook salmon PSC limit for the pollock fishery is 41,000 fish.

The criteria for determining the PSC limits for red king crab in Zone 1 are set forth at § 679.21(e)(1)(ii). For 2001, the PSC limit of red king crab in Zone 1 for trawl vessels is 97,000 animals. The number of mature female red king crab is estimated in 2001 to be above the threshold of 8.4 million animals, and the effective spawning biomass is estimated to be 39.9 million lb (18,099 mt) which is greater than 14.5 million lb (6,577 mt) but less than 55 million lb (24,948 mt). Based on the criteria set out at § 679.21(e)(1)(ii)(B), the limit is 97,000 animals.

The criteria for determining the PSC limits for
C.

bairdi
crabs are set forth in § 679.21(e)(1)(iii). The 2001
C.

bairdi
PSC limit for trawl gear is 730,000 animals in Zone 1 and 2,070,000 animals in Zone 2. These limits are based on survey data from 2000. In Zone 1,
C.

bairdi
abundance was estimated to be greater than 150 million and less than 270 million animals. In Zone 2,
C.

bairdi
abundance was estimated to be greater than 175 million animals and less than 290 million animals.

Under § 679.21(e)(1)(iv), the PSC limit for
C.

opilio
is based on total abundance as indicated by the NMFS annual bottom trawl survey. The
C.

opilio
PSC limit is set at 0.1133 percent of the Bering Sea abundance index. Based on the 2000 survey estimate of 3.2 billion animals, the calculated limit would be 3,625,600 animals. Because this limit is less than 4.5 million, under § 679.21(e)(1)(iv)(B), the 2001
C.

opilio
PSC limit is 4,350,000 animals.

Under § 679.21(e)(1)(vi), the PSC limit of Pacific herring caught while conducting any trawl operation for groundfish in the BSAI is 1 percent of the annual eastern Bering Sea herring biomass. NMFS' best estimate of 2001 herring biomass is 152,574 mt. This amount was derived using 2000 survey data and an age-structured biomass projection model developed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). Therefore, the herring PSC limit for 2001 is 1,526 mt.

Under § 679.21(e)(1)(i), 7.5 percent of each PSC limit specified for crab and halibut is reserved as a PSQ reserve for use by the groundfish CDQ program. Regulations at § 679.21(e)(3) require the apportionment of each trawl PSC limit into PSC bycatch allowances for seven specified fishery categories. Regulations at § 679.21(e)(4)(ii) authorize the apportionment of the non-trawl halibut PSC limit among five fishery categories. The fishery bycatch allowances for the trawl and non-trawl fisheries are listed in Table 9. These amounts are unchanged from those recommended by the Council at its December 2000 meeting.

Regulations at § 679.21(e)(3)(ii)(B) establish criteria under which NMFS must specify an annual red king crab bycatch limit for the Red King Crab Savings Subarea (RKCSS). The regulations limit the RKCSS to 35 percent of the trawl bycatch allowance specified for the rock sole/flathead sole/ “other flatfish” fishery category and must be based on the need to optimize the groundfish harvest relative to red king crab bycatch. The Council recommended and NMFS approves a red king crab bycatch limit equal to 35 percent of the trawl bycatch allowance specified for the flatfish fishery within the RKCSS in order maximum harvest of groundfish relative to red king crab bycatch.

Regulations at § 679.21(e)(4)(ii) authorize exemption of specified non-trawl fisheries from the halibut PSC limit. As in past years, NMFS, after consultation with the Council, is exempting pot gear, jig gear, and the sablefish IFQ hook-and-line gear fishery categories from halibut bycatch restrictions because these fisheries use selective gear types that take few halibut compared to other gear types such as nonpelagic trawl. In 2000, total

groundfish catch for the pot gear fishery in the BSAI was approximately 19,872 mt with an associated halibut bycatch mortality of about 4 mt. The 2000 groundfish jig gear fishery harvested about 72 mt of groundfish. Most vessels in the jig gear fleet are less than 60 ft (18.3 m) LOA and are exempt from observer coverage requirements. As a result, observer data are not available on halibut bycatch in the jig gear fishery. However, NMFS assumes a negligible amount of halibut bycatch mortality because of the selective nature of this gear type and the likelihood that halibut caught with jig gear have a high survival rate when released.

As in past years, the Council recommended that the sablefish IFQ fishery be exempt from halibut bycatch restrictions because of the sablefish and halibut IFQ program (subpart D of 50 CFR part 679). The sablefish IFQ program requires legal-sized halibut to be retained by vessels using hook-and-line gear if a halibut IFQ permit holder is aboard and is holding unused halibut IFQ. This action results in less halibut discard in the sablefish fishery. In 1995, about 36 mt of halibut discard mortality was estimated for the sablefish IFQ fishery. A similar estimate for 1996 through 2000 has not been calculated, but NMFS has no information indicating that it would be significantly different. NMFS approves the Council's recommendation to exempt the hook-and-line sablefish from halibut bycatch restrictions.

Regulations at § 679.21(e)(5) authorize NMFS, after consultation with the Council, to establish seasonal apportionments of PSC amounts in order to maximize the ability of the fleet to harvest the available groundfish TAC and to minimize bycatch. The factors to be considered are: (1) Seasonal distribution of prohibited species, (2) seasonal distribution of target groundfish species, (3) PSC bycatch needs on a seasonal basis relevant to prohibited species biomass, (4) expected variations in bycatch rates throughout the year, (5) expected start of fishing effort, and (6) economic effects of seasonal PSC apportionments on industry sectors. In December 2000, the Council's AP recommended seasonal PSC apportionments in order to maximize harvest among gear types, fisheries, and seasons while minimizing bycatch of PSC based upon the criteria above. NMFS approves the PSC apportionments specified in Table 9, below. However, NMFS recognizes that the Council did not have the opportunity in December 2000, to evaluate the effects of SSL protection measures implemented by this emergency rule on PSC bycatch needs throughout the year with respect to factors listed above. After consulting with the Council at its emergency January 2001 meeting, NMFS will consider amending PSC seasonal apportionments and amounts.

Table 9.—Prohibited Species Bycatch Allowances for the BSAI Trawl and Non-Trawl Fisheries
1

[All amounts are in metric tons]

Prohibited species and zone
Halibut mortality (mt) BSAI
Herring (mt) BSAI
Red King Crab (animals) Zone 1

C. opilio (animals) COBLZ
2

C. bairdi (animals)
Zone 1
Zone 2

TRAWL FISHERIES

Yellowfin sole
911
139
11,664
2,876,981
253,894
1,246,502

January 20-March 31
286

April 1-May 20
196

May 21-July 3
49

July 1-December 31
380

Rocksole/oth.flat/flat sole
3

854
20
64,782
469,130
272,126
415,501

January 20-March 31
498

April 1-July 31
179

July 1-December 31
177

RKC savings subarea
3

22,674

Turbot/sablefish/arrowtooth
4

9

40,238

Rockfish (July 1-December 31)
5

69
7

40,237

7,658

Pacific cod
1,334
20
11,664
524,736
136,400
225,941

Pollock/Atka/other
6

232
146
1,615
72,428
12,830
19,148

Midwater trawl pollock

1,184

Total Trawl PSC
3,400
1,526
89,725
4,023,750
675,250
1,914,750

NON-TRAWL FISHERIES

Pacific cod—Total
755

Jan. 1-June 10
7

300

June 11-July 31
0

August 1-Dec. 31
455

Other non-trawl-Total
78

May 1-December 31
78

Groundfish pot & jig
Exempt

Sablefish hook-&-line
Exempt

Total Non-Trawl
833

PSQ Reserve
8

342

7,275
326,250
54,750
155,250

Grand Total
4,575
1,526
97,000
4,350,000
730,000
2,070,000

1
Refer to § 679.2 for definitions of areas.

2

C. opilio
Bycatch Limitation Zone. Boundaries are defined at 50 CFR part 679, fig. 13.

3
The Council at its December 2000 meeting limited red king crab for trawl fisheries within the RKCSS to 35 percent of the total allocation to the rock sole, flathead sole, and other flatfish fishery category (§ 679.21(e)(3)(ii)(B)).

4
Greenland turbot, arrowtooth flounder, and sablefish fishery category.

5
The Council at its December 2000 meeting apportioned the rockfish PSC amounts from July 1-December 31, to prevent fishing for rockfish before July 1, 2001.

6
Pollock other than pelagic trawl pollock, Atka mackerel, and “other species” fishery category.

7
Any unused halibut PSC from the first trimester may be rolled over into the third trimester.

8
With the exception of herring, 7.5 percent of each PSC limit is allocated to the multi-species CDQ program as PSQ reserve. The PSQ reserve is not allocated by fishery, gear or season.

To monitor halibut bycatch mortality allowances and apportionments, the Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), will use observed halibut bycatch rates, assumed mortality rates, and estimates of groundfish catch to project when a fishery's halibut bycatch mortality allowance or seasonal apportionment is reached. The Regional Administrator monitors a fishery's halibut bycatch mortality allowances using assumed mortality rates that are based on the best information available, including information contained in the annual SAFE reports.

The Council recommended, and NMFS concurs, that the assumed halibut mortality rates developed by staff of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) for the 2001 BSAI groundfish fisheries be adopted for purposes of monitoring halibut bycatch allowances established for 2001. Results from analysis of halibut release condition data for 1999 showed continued stability in halibut discard mortality rates (DMRs) for many fisheries. Plots of annual DMRs against the 10-year mean indicated little change since 1990 for some fisheries, particularly the major trawl fisheries. DMRs were more variable for the smaller fisheries which typically take minor amounts of halibut bycatch. A new procedure for determining Preseason Assumed DMRs was proposed by the IPHC and adopted by the Council, which included use of the long-term mean DMR for a 3-year period before revisions are proposed except for BSAI longline Pacific cod, for which the Council recommended setting annual DMRs. The IPHC will also continue to conduct annual analyses of observer data and recommend changes to the Preseason Assumed DMR where a fishery DMR shows large variation from the mean. The justification for these mortality rates is discussed in the final SAFE report dated November 2000.

Table 10.—Assumed Pacific Halibut Mortality Rates for the BSAI Fisheries

Fishery
Preseason assumed mortality (percent )

Hood-and-line gear fisheries:

Rockfish
25

Pacific cod
12

Greenland turbot
18

Sablefish
22

Other Species
12

Trawl gear fisheries:

Midwater pollock
84

Non-pelagic pollock
76

Yellowfin sole
81

Rock sole
76

Flathead sole
67

Other flatfish
71

Rockfish
69

Pacific cod
67

Atka mackerel
75

Greenland turbot
70

Sablefish
50

Other species
67

Pot gear fisheries:

Pacific cod
8

Other species
8

CDQ Trawl fisheries:

Atka mackerel
82

Midwater pollock
90

Non-pelagic pollock
88

Rockfish
88

Yellowfin sole
83

CDQ Hood-and-line fisheries:

Pacific cod
10

Directed Fishing Closures

In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), if the Regional Administrator determines that any allocation or apportionment of a target species or “other species” category has been or will be reached, the Regional Administrator may establish a directed fishing allowance for that species or species group. If the Regional Administrator establishes a directed fishing allowance, and that allowance is or will be reached before the end of the fishing year, NMFS will prohibit directed fishing for that species or species group in the specified subarea or district (§ 697.20(d)(1)(iii)). Similarly, under § 679.21(e), if the Regional Administrator determines that a fishery category's bycatch allowance of halibut, red king crab, or
C. bairdi
Tanner crab for a specified area has been reached, the Regional Administrator will prohibit directed fishing for each species in that category in the specified area.

The Regional Administrator has determined that the following remaining allocation amounts will be necessary as incidental catch to support other anticipated groundfish fisheries for the 2001 fishing year:

(mt)

Bogoslof District:

Pollock
1,000

Aleutian Islands subarea:

Pollock
2,000

Sharpchin/northern rockfish
6,239

Shortraker/rougheye rockfish
843

“Other rockfish”
575

Bering Sea subarea:

Pacific ocean perch
1,471

“Other rockfish”
307

Sharpchin/northern rockfish
16

Shortraker/rougheye rockfish
99

Consequently, in accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), the Regional Administrator establishes the directed fishing allowances for the above species or species groups as zero.

Therefore, in accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iii), NMFS immediately is prohibiting directed fishing for these species in the specified areas and these closures will remain in effect through 2400 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), December 31, 2001, effective January 18, 2001.

In addition, the BSAI, Zone 1, annual red king crab allowance specified for the trawl rockfish fishery (§ 679.21(e)(3)(iv)(D)) is 0 mt and the BSAI first seasonal halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl rockfish fishery is 0 mt. The BSAI annual halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl Greenland turbot/arrowtooth flounder/sablefish fishery categories, (§ 679.21(e)(3)(iv)(C)) is 0 mt. Therefore, in accordance with § 679.21(e)(7)(ii) and (v), NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for rockfish by vessels using trawl gear in Zone 1 of the BSAI and directed fishing for Greenland turbot/arrowtooth flounder/sablefish by vessels using trawl gear in the BSAI for the entire 2001 fishing year. NMFS is also prohibiting directed fishing for rockfish outside Zone 1 in the BSAI until 1200 hrs, A.l.t, July 1, 2001.

While these closures are in effect, the maximum retainable bycatch amounts at § 679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time during a fishing trip. These closures to directed fishing are in addition to closures and prohibitions found in regulations at 50 CFR part 679. Refer to § 679.2 for definitions of areas. In the BSAI, “Other rockfish” includes
Sebastes
and
Sebastolobus
species except for Pacific ocean perch, shortraker, rougheye, sharpchin, and northern rockfish.

BS Subarea Inshore Pollock Allocations

Under § 679.20(a)(5)(i)(C), NMFS must subdivide the inshore allocation into allocations for cooperatives and vessels not fishing in a cooperative (i.e., the open access sector). In addition, under § 679.22(a)(11)(iv), NMFS must establish harvest limits inside the Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) and provide a set-aside so that catcher vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA have the opportunity to operate entirely within the SCA during the A, B and D seasons. Accordingly, Table 11 lists the apportionment of the BS subarea inshore pollock allocation into allocations for vessels fishing in a cooperative and for vessels not participating in a cooperative and establishes a cooperative-sector SCA set-aside for AFA catcher vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA. The SCA set-aside for sector catcher vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA that are not participating in a cooperative will be established inseason based on actual participation levels and is not included in Table 11. These allocations may be revised based on any corrections to AFA vessels' catch history.

Table 11.—Bering Sea Subarea Pollock Allocations to the Cooperative and Open Access Sectors of the Inshore Pollock Fishery
[Amounts are expressed in metric tons]

A/B season TAC

A season inside SCA
1

B season inside SCA
C/D season TAC

C season inside SCA
1

D season inside SCA

Cooperative sector:

Vessels > 99 ft
n/a
70,890
23,630
n/a
n/a
56,966

Vessels ≤ 99 ft
n/a
10,593
3,531
n/a
n/a
8,512

Total
240,976
81,483
27,161
361,465
39,286
65,478

Open access sector
944

2
319

2
106

1,415
154

2
256

Total inshore
241,920
81,802
27,267
362,880
39,440
65,734

1
Steller sea lion conservation area established at § 679.22(a)(11)(iv).

2
SCA limitations for vessels less than or equal to 99 ft LOA that are not participating in a cooperative will be established on an inseason basis in accordance with § 679.22(a)(11)(iv)(D)( 2) which specifies that “the Regional Administrator will prohibit directed fishing for pollock by vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore component greater than 99 ft (30.2 m) LOA before reaching the inshore SCA harvest limit during the A, B and D seasons to accommodate fishing by vessels less than or equal to 99 ft (30.2 m) inside the SCA for the duration of the inshore seasonal opening.”

Under § 679.4, NMFS set out procedures for AFA inshore catcher vessel pollock cooperatives to apply for and receive cooperative fishing permits and inshore pollock allocations. NMFS received applications from seven inshore catcher vessel cooperatives. Table 12 lists the pollock allocations to the seven inshore catcher vessel pollock cooperatives that have been approved and permitted by NMFS for the 2001 fishing year. Allocations for cooperatives and vessels not participating in cooperatives are not made for the AI subarea because the AI subarea has been closed to directed fishing for pollock. These allocations may be revised based on any corrections to AFA vessels' catch history.

Table 12.—Bering Sea Subarea Inshore Cooperative Allocations

Cooperative name and member vessels

Sum of member vessel's official catch histories
1

Percentage of inshore sector allocation
(percent)

Annual co-op allocation

Akutan Catcher Vessel Association:

ALDEBARAN, ARCTURUS, BLUE FOX, CAPE KIWANDA, COLUMBIA, DOMINATOR, DONA MARTITA, EXODUS, GLADIATOR, GOLDEN DAWN, GOLDEN PISCES, HAZEL LORRAINE, INTREPID EXPLORER, LESLIE LEE, LISA MELINDA, MAJESTY, MARCY J, MARGARET LYN, NORDIC EXPLORER, NORTHERN PATRIOT, NORTHWEST EXPLORER, PACIFIC RAM, PACIFIC VIKING, PEGASUS, PEGGIE JO, PERSEVERANCE, PREDATOR, RAVEN, ROYAL AMERICAN, SEEKER, SOVEREIGNTY, TRAVELER, VIKING EXPLORER
265,244
29.889
180,769

Arctic Enterprise Association:

ARCTIC EXPLORER, BRISTOL EXPLORER, OCEAN EXPLORER, PACIFIC EXPLORER
50,008
5.635
34,080

Northern Victor Fleet Cooperative:

ANITA J, NORDIC FURY, PACIFIC FURY, GOLDRUSH, EXCALIBUR II, HALF MOON BAY, SUNSET BAY, COMMODORE, STORM PETREL, POSEIDON, ROYAL ATLANTIC, MISS BERDIE
72,024
8.116
49,086

Peter Pan Fleet Cooperative:

AMBER DAWN, AMERICAN BEAUTY, ELIZABETH F, OCEAN HOPE 1, OCEANIC, OCEAN LEADER, TOPAZ, WALTER N
15,309
1.725
10,433

Unalaska Cooperative:

ALASKA ROSE, BERING ROSE, DESTINATION, GREAT PACIFIC, MESSIAH, MORNING STAR, MS AMY, PROGRESS, SEA WOLF, VANGUARD, WESTERN DAWN
106,714
12.025
72,727

UniSea Fleet Cooperative:

ALSEA, AMERICAN EAGLE, ARGOSY, AURIGA, AURORA, DEFENDER, GUN-MAR, NORDIC STAR, PACIFIC MONARCH, SEADAWN, STARFISH, STARLITE, STARWARD
210,922
23.768
143,749

Westward Fleet Cooperative:

A.J., ALASKAN COMMAND, ALYESKA, ARCTIC WIND, CAITLIN ANN, CHELSEA K, HICKORY WIND, FIERCE ALLEGIANCE, OCEAN HOPE 3, PACIFIC CHALLENGER, PACIFIC KNIGHT, PACIFIC PRINCE, VIKING, WESTWARD I
163,750
18.452
111,598

Open access AFA vessels
3,463
0.390
2,359

Total inshore allocation
887,435
100
604,800

1
Under 679.62(e)(1) the individual catch history for each vessel is equal to the vessel's best 2 of 3 years inshore pollock landings from 1995 through 1997 and includes landings to catcher/processors for vessels that made 500 or more mt of landings to catcher/processors from 1995 through 1997.

2001 Unrestricted AFA Catcher/Processor Sideboards

Regulations at § 679.63(a) establish a formula for setting AFA catcher/processor sideboard limits for non-pollock groundfish and PSC in the BSAI. The basis for these sideboard amounts was recommended by the Council and is described in detail in the Emergency Interim Rule to Implement Major Provisions of the AFA (64 FR 4520, January 28, 2000). The 2001 catcher/processor sideboards are set out in Table 13 below.

All non-pollock groundfish that is harvested by unrestricted AFA catcher/processors, whether as targeted catch or bycatch, will be deducted from the harvest limits in Table 13. However, non-pollock groundfish that is delivered to listed catcher/processors by catcher vessels will not be deducted from the 2001 harvest limits for the listed catcher/processors.

Table 13.—2001 Unrestricted BSAI AFA Catcher/Processor Groundfish Sideboards
[Amounts are expressed in metric tons]

Target species
Area
1995-1997
Total catch
Available TAC
Ratio
2001 ITAC available to trawl C/Ps
2001 C/P sideboard amount

Pacific cod trawl
BSAI
13,547
51,450
0.263
40,867
10,748

Sablefish trawl
BS
8
1,736
0.005
663
3

Al
1
1,135
0.001
531
1

Atka mackerel
Western Al

A season
1

n/a
n/a
0.200
12,904
2,581

CH limit
2

1,239

B season
n/a
n/a
0.200
12,904
2,581

CH limit

1,239

Central Al

A season
1

n/a
n/a
0.115
15,540
1,787

CH limit

882

B season
n/a
n/a
0.115
15,540
1,787

CH limit

882

Yellowfin sole
BSAI
123,003
527,000
0.233
96,050
22,380

Rock sole
BSAI
14,753
202,107
0.073
63,750
4,654

Greenland turbot
BS
168
16,911
0.010
5,206
52

Al
31
6,839
0.005
2,564
13

Arrowtooth flounder
BSAI
788
36,873
0.021
18,709
393

Flathead sole
BSAI
3,030
87,975
0.034
34,000
1,156

Other flatfish
BSAI
12,145
92,428
0.131
23,800
3,118

Pacific ocean perch
BS
58
5,760
0.010
1,471
15

Western Al
356
12,440
0.029
4,385
127

Central Al
95
6,195
0.015
2,368
36

Eastern Al
112
6,265
0.018
2,683
48

Sharpchin/northern
BS

0.078
16

Al
1,034
13,254
0.078
6,239
487

Shortraker/rougheye
BS

0.024
99

Al
68
2,827
0.024
843
20

Other rockfish
BS
39
1,026
0.038
307
12

Al
95
1,924
0.049
575
28

Squid
BSAI
7
3,670
0.002
1,675
3

Other species
BSAI
3,551
65,925
0.054
22,525
1,216

1
The seasonal apportionment of Atka mackerel in the open access fishery is 50 percent in the A season and 50 percent in the B season. Unrestricted AFA catcher/processors are limited to harvesting no more than 20 and 11.5 percent of the available TAC in the Western and Central Al subareas respectively. Unrestricted AFA catcher/processors are prohibited from harvesting Atka mackerel in the Eastern Aleutian Islands District and Bering Sea subarea (paragraph 211(b)(2)(C)).

2
Critical habitat (CH) allowance refers to the amount of each seasonal allowance that is available for fishing inside critical habitat (50 CFR part 679 Table 21). In 2001, the percentage of TAC available for fishing inside critical habitat area is 48 percent in the Western Al and 46 percent in the Central A1. When these critical habitat allowances are reached, critical habitat areas will be closed to trawling until NMFS closes Atka mackerel to directed fishing within the same district.

Regulations at § 679.63(a)(2) establish a formula for PSC sideboards for unrestricted AFA catcher/processors. These amounts are equivalent to the percentage of prohibited species bycatch limits harvested in the non-pollock groundfish fisheries by the AFA catcher/processors listed in subsection 208(e) and section 209 of the AFA from 1995 through 1997. Prohibited species amounts harvested by these catcher/processors in BSAI non-pollock groundfish fisheries from 1995 through 1997 are shown in Table 14. These data were used to calculate the relative amount of prohibited species catch limits harvested by pollock catcher/processors, which were then used to determine the prohibited species harvest limits for unrestricted AFA catcher/processors in the 2001 non-pollock groundfish fisheries.

PSC that is caught by unrestricted AFA catcher/processors participating in any non-pollock groundfish fishery listed in Table 13 shall accrue against the 2001 PSC limits for the listed catcher/processors. Regulations at § 679.21(e)(3)(v) provide authority to close directed fishing for non-pollock groundfish for unrestricted AFA catcher/processors once a 2001 PSC limitation listed in Table 14 is reached.

Crab or halibut PSC that is caught by unrestricted AFA catcher/processors while fishing for pollock will accrue against the bycatch allowances annually specified for either the midwater pollock or the pollock/Atka mackerel/other species fishery categories under § 679.21(e).

Table 14.—2001 Unrestricted BSAI AFA Catcher/Processor Prohibited Species Sideboard Amounts

PSC species
1995-1997
PSC catch
Total PSC
Ratio
2001 PSC available to trawl vessels
2001 C/P limit

Halibut mortality
955
11,325
0.084
3,400
286 mt.

Red king crab
3,098
473,750
0.007
89,725
628 crab.

C. opilio
2,323,731
15,139,178
0.153
4,023,750
615,634 crab.

C. bairdi:

Zone 1
385,978
2,750,000
0.140
675,250
94,535 crab.

Zone 2
406,860
8,100,000
0.050
1,914,750
95,738 crab.

2001 AFA Catcher Vessel Sideboards

Regulations at § 679.63(b) establish a formula for setting AFA catcher vessel groundfish and PSC sideboard amounts for the BSAI. The basis for these sideboard amounts was recommended by the Council and is described in detail in the Emergency Interim Rule to Implement Major Provisions of the AFA (64 FR 4520, January 28, 2000). The 2001 AFA catcher vessel sideboards amounts are shown in Tables 15 and 16.

All harvests of groundfish sideboard species made by non-exempt AFA catcher vessels, whether as targeted catch or bycatch, will be deducted from the sideboard limits listed in Table 15.

Table 15.—2001 BSAI AFA Catcher Vessel (CV) Sideboards
[Amounts are expressed in metric tons]

Species
Fishery by area/season/processor/gear
Ratio of 1995-1997 AFA CV catch to 1995-1997 TAC
2001 initial TAC
2001 catcher vessel sideboard

Pacific cod
BSAI:

jig gear:

Jan 1-Jun 10
0.0000
2,087
0

Jun 10-Dec 31
0.0000
1,391
0

hook-and-line CV:

Jan 1-Jun 10
0.0006
159
0

Jun 10-Dec 31
0.0006
106
0

Pot gear:

Jan 1-Jun 10
0.0006
9,683
6

Jun 10-Dec 31
0.0006
6,455
4

CV < 60 feet LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear:

Jan 1-Jun 10
0.0006
741
0

Jun 10-Dec 31
0.0006
494
0

trawl gear:

catcher vessel:

Jan 1-Jun 10
0.7703
24,520
18,888

Jun 10-Dec 31
0.7703
16,347
12,592

catcher/processor:

Jan 1-Jun 10
0.0000
24,520
0

Jun 10-Dec 31
0.0000
16,347
0

Sablefish
BS trawl gear
0.0006
663
0

AI trawl gear
0.0608
531
32

Atka mackerel
Eastern AI/BS:

jig gear
0.0031
72
0

other gear:

Jan 1-Apr 15
0.0031
3,572
11

Sept 1-Nov 1
0.0031
3,572
11

Central AI:

Jan-Apr 15
0.0001
15,540
2

inside CH
0.0001
7,148
1

Sept 1-Nov 1
0.0001
15,540
2

inside CH
0.0001
7,148
1

Western AI:

Jan-Apr 15
0.0000
12,904
0

inside CH
0.0000
6,194
0

Sept 1-Nov 1
0.0000
12,904
0

inside CH
0.0000
6,194
0

Yellowfin sole
BSAI
0.0712
96,050
6,839

Rock sole
BSAI
0.0255
63,750
1,626

Greenland Turbot
BS
0.0405
5,206
211

AI
0.0021
2,564
5

Arrowtooth flounder
BSAI
0.0583
18,709
1,091

Other flatfish
BSAI
0.0558
23,800
1,328

POP
BS
0.1018
1,471
150

Eastern AI
0.0048
2,683
13

Central AI
0.0011
2,368
3

Western AI
0.0000
4,385
0

Sharpchin/Northern
BS
0.0280
16
0

AI
0.0015
6,239
9

Shortraker/Rougheye
BS
0.0280
99
3

AI
0.0011
843
1

Other rockfish
BS
0.0379
307
12

AI
0.0031
575
2

Squid
BSAI
0.3885
1,675
651

Other species
BSAI
0.0283
22,525
637

Flathead Sole
BS trawl gear
0.0490
34,000
1,666

Regulations at § 679.63(b) establish a formula for PSC sideboards for AFA catcher vessels. The AFA catcher vessel PSC bycatch limit for halibut in the BSAI, and each crab species in the BSAI for which a trawl bycatch limit has been established as a percentage of the PSC limit equal to the ratio of aggregate retained groundfish catch by AFA catcher vessels in each PSC target category from 1995 through 1997 relative to the retained catch of all vessels in that fishery from 1995 through 1997. These amounts are listed in Table 16.

Halibut and crab PSC that is caught by AFA catcher vessels participating in any non-pollock groundfish fishery listed in Table 15 will accrue against the 2001 PSC limits for the AFA catcher vessels. Regulations at § 679.21(d)(8) and (e)(3)(v) provide authority to close directed fishing for non-pollock groundfish for AFA catcher vessels once a 2001 PSC limitation listed in Table 16 for the BSAI is reached. PSC that is caught by AFA catcher vessels while fishing for pollock in the BSAI will accrue against either the midwater pollock or the pollock/Atka mackerel/other species fishery categories.

Table 16.—2001 AFA Catcher Vessel (CV) Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Sideboard Amounts
1
for the BSAI

PSC species

Target fishery category
2
and season

Ratio of 1995-1997 AFA CV retained catch to total retained catch
2001 PSC Limit
2001 AFA catcher vessel PSC sideboard

Halibut
Pacific cod trawl
0.6183
1,334
825

Pacific cod hook-and-line or pot
0.0022
755
2

Yellowfin sole:

Jan. 20-Mar. 31
0.1144
286
33

Apr. 1-May 20
0.1144
196
22

May 21-July 3
0.1144
49
6

July 1-Dec. 31
0.1144
380
43

Rock sole/Flathead sole/Oth. flat:

Jan. 20-Mar. 31
0.2841
498
141

Apr. 1-July 3
0.2841
179
51

July 1-Dec. 31
0.2841
177
50

Turbot/Arrowtooth/Sablefish
0.2327
0
0

Rockfish
0.0245
69
2

Pollock/Atka mackerel/Other sp
0.0227
232
5

Red King Crab Zone 1
Pacific cod
0.6183
11,664
7,212

Yellowfin sole
0.1144
11,664
1,334

Rock sole/Flathead sole/Oth. flat
0.2841
64,782
18,405

Pollock/Atka mackerel/Other sp
0.0227
1,615
37

C. opilio
COBLZ
3 4

Pacific cod
0.6183
524,736
324,444

Yellowfin sole
0.1144
2,876,981
329,127

Rock sole/Flathead sole/Oth. flat
0.2841
469,130
133,280

Pollock/Atka mackerel/Other sp
0.0227
72,428
1,644

Rockfish
5

0.0245
40,237
986

Turbot/Arrowtooth/Sablefish
0.2327
40,238
9,363

C. bairdi
Zone 1

Pacific cod
0.6183
136,400
84,336

Yellowfin sole
0.1144
253,894
29,045

Rock sole/Flathead sole/Oth. flat
0.2841
272,126
77,311

Pollock/Atka mackerel/Other sp
0.0227
12,830
291

C. bairdi
Zone 2

Pacific cod
0.6183
225,941
139,699

Yellowfin sole
0.1144
1,246,502
142,600

Rock sole/Flathead sole/Oth. flat
0.2841
415,501
118,044

Pollock/Atka mackerel/Other sp
0.0227
19,148
435

Rockfish
0.0245
7,658
188

1
Halibut amounts are in metric tons of halibut mortality. Crab amounts are in numbers of animals.

2
Target fishery categories are defined in regulation at § 679.21(e)(3)(iv).

3

C. opilio
Bycatch Limitation Zone. Boundaries are defined at Figure 13 of 50 CFR part 679.

4
The Council at its December 2000 meeting limited red king crab for trawl fisheries within the RKCSS to 35 percent of the total allocation to the rock sole, flathead sole, and other flatfish fishery category (§ 679.21(e)(3)(ii)(B)).

5
The Council at its December 2000 meeting apportioned the rockfish PSC amounts from July 1—December 31 to prevent fishing for rockfish before July 1, 2001.

2001 Sideboard Directed Fishing Closures

Catcher/Processor Sideboard Closures

The Regional Administrator has determined that many of the AFA catcher/processor sideboard amounts listed in Table 13 are necessary as incidental catch to support other anticipated groundfish fisheries for the 2001 fishing year. In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iv), the Regional Administrator establishes these following amounts as directed fishing allowances. The Regional Administrator finds that many of these directed fishing allowances will be reached before the end of the year. Therefore, in accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iii), NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing by unrestricted AFA catcher/processors for the species in the specified areas set out in Table 17.

Table 17.—AFA Unrestricted Catcher/Processor Sideboard Directed Fishing Closures.
1
These Closures Take Effect 1200 Hrs A.L.T., January 20, 2001 and Remain in Effect Through 2400 Hrs, A.L.T., December 31, 2001

Species
Area
Gear types

Sablefish trawl
BSAI
all

Greenland turbot
BSAI
all

Arrowtooth flounder
BSAI
all

Pacific ocean perch
BSAI
all

Sharpchin/Northern rockfish
BSAI
all

Shortraker/Rougheye rockfish
BSAI
all

Other rockfish
BSAI
all

Squid
BSAI
all

Other species
BSAI
all

1
Maximum retainable percentages may be found in Table 11 to 50 CFR part 679.

AFA Catcher Vessel Sideboard Closures

The Regional Administrator has determined that many of the AFA catcher vessel sideboard amounts listed in Table 15 are necessary as incidental catch to support other anticipated groundfish fisheries for the 2001 fishing year. In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iv), the Regional Administrator establishes these amounts as directed fishing allowances. The Regional Administrator finds that many of these directed fishing allowances will be reached before the end of the year. Therefore, in accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iii), NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing by non-exempt AFA catcher vessels for the species in the specified areas set out in Table 18.

Table 18.—AFA Catcher Vessel Sideboard Directed Fishing Closures
1

[These Closures take effect 12 noon A.L.T., January 20, 2001. These closures will remain in effect through 2400 hrs, A.L.T., December 31, 2001]

Species
Area
Gear

Pacific cod
BSAI
Hook-and-line, pot, jig.

Sablefish
BSAI
Trawl.

Atka mackerel
BSAI
All.

Greenland Turbot
BSAI
All.

Arrowtooth flounder
BSAI
All.

Pacific ocean perch
BSAI
All.

Sharpchin/northern rockfish
BSAI
All.

Shortraker/rougheye rockfish
BSAI
All.

Other rockfish
BSAI
All.

Squid
BSAI
All.

Other species
BSAI
All.

1
Maximum retainable percentages may be found in Table 11 to 50 CFR part 679.

Gulf of Alaska

The SSC adopted the OFL recommendations from the Plan Team, which were provided in the November 2000 GOA SAFE report (See
ADDRESSES
), for all groundfish species categories. The SSC also adopted the ABC and area apportionment recommendations from the Plan Team, which were provided in the GOA SAFE report, for all of the groundfish species categories.

The Council adopted the SSC's ABC and AP's TAC recommendations for all species, except other rockfish in the Eastern GOA. The Council requested that NMFS set the TAC for other rockfish in the Eastern GOA at levels which would be sufficient to allow for bycatch to be retained throughout the fishing year but that would be insufficient to allow for a directed fishery to occur. The SSC's, AP's and Council's recommendation for the method of apportioning the sablefish ABC among management areas includes commercial fishery as well as survey data as in 2000. NMFS stock assessment scientists believe that the use of unbiased commercial fishery data reflecting catch-per-unit effort provides a desirable input for stock distribution assessments. The use of commercial fishery data would need to be evaluated annually to assure that unbiased information is included in stock distribution models. The Council's recommendation for sablefish area apportionments also takes into account the prohibition on the use of trawl gear in the Southeast Outside (SEO) District of the Eastern GOA and makes available 5 percent of the combined Eastern GOA ABCs to trawl gear for use as incidental catch in other directed groundfish fisheries in the West Yakutat (WYK) District.

NMFS

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A01-1744. Public record. Not legal advice.