Amendment 49 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 052997B]

RIN: 0648-AJ36

Amendment 49 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish

Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management

plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has

submitted Amendment 49 to the Fishery Management Plan for the

Groundfish Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area for

Secretarial review. Amendment 49 would require all vessels fishing for

groundfish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area to retain all

pollock and Pacific cod beginning January 1, 1998, and all rock sole

and yellowfin sole beginning January 1, 2003. Amendment 49 also would

establish minimum utilization standards for all at-sea processors; for

pollock and Pacific cod beginning January 1, 1998, and for rock sole

and yellowfin sole beginning January 1, 2003. Comments from the public

are requested.

[[Page 30836]]

DATES: Comments on Amendment 49 must be submitted on or before August

4, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 49 should be submitted to Ronald J.

Berg, Chief, Fisheries Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668, Attn: Lori Gravel, or delivered to

the Federal Building, 709 West 9th. Street, Juneau, AK. Copies of

Amendment 49 and the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis prepared for the amendment are

available from NMFS at the above address, or by calling the Alaska

Region, NMFS, at 907-586-7228.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Lind, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation

and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each Regional

Fishery Management Council submit any fishery management plan (FMP) or

plan amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval,

disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also

requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, immediately

publish a document announcing that the FMP or amendment is available

for public review and comment. NMFS will consider the public comments

received during the comment period in determining whether to approve

the FMP or amendment.

Amendment 49 is the result of over 3 years of specific discussions

and analyses of alternative solutions to the discard problem occurring

in the groundfish fisheries off Alaska. The expressed intent of the

Council is to implement a program that ``would provide an incentive for

fishermen to avoid unwanted catch, increase utilization of fish that

are taken, and thus reduce discards of whole fish.'' While such

discards are counted against the overall total allowable catch

established for each species and therefore do not represent a direct

biological concern, they do represent foregone harvest opportunities

for other fishing operations which might otherwise target and utilize

those fish. In addition, high levels of discards represent an important

social policy issue, one that the fishing industry and the Council feel

the necessity to address.

In September 1996, after extensive debate and public testimony, the

Council approved an Improved Retention/Improved Utilization (IR/IU)

program as Amendment 49 to the Fishery Management Plan for the

Groundfish Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area. The

retention requirement adopted by the Council would require full

retention of pollock and Pacific cod beginning January 1, 1998, and

full retention of rock sole and yellowfin sole beginning January 1,

2003. The utilization requirement adopted by the Council would require

that all IR/IU species either be (1) processed at sea subject to

minimum recovery rates and/or requirements to be specified by

regulation, or (2) delivered in their entirety to onshore processing

plants for which similar minimum requirements are implemented through

state regulations.

NMFS will consider the public comments received during the comment

period in determining whether to approve the proposed amendment. A

proposed rule to implement Amendment 49 is scheduled to be published

within 15 days of this document.

Dated: May 30, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97-14661 Filed 6-4-97; 8:45 am]

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