Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Nontrawl Sablefish Mop-Up Fishery; Announcement of Extension

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 961227373-6373-01; I.D. 092497C]

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Nontrawl Sablefish Mop-Up Fishery;

Announcement of Extension

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Nontrawl sablefish mop-up fishery and delay of the limited

entry daily trip limit fishery; announcement of extension.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the extension of and new ending date for the

mop-up fishery for nontrawl limited entry sablefish. This action will

delay the beginning of the October limited entry daily trip limit

fishery. This action is taken in response to unusually bad coastwide

weather during the first week of the mop-up fishery. This action is

intended to increase safety while providing for harvest of the

remainder of the 1997 limited entry nontrawl allocation for sablefish.

DATES: This action is effective on October 9, 1997. The nontrawl

sablefish mop-up fishery began at 1201 hours local time (l.t.), October

1, 1997, and will end at 1200 hours l.t., October 22, 1997, at which

time the limited entry daily trip limit fishery resumes. The daily trip

limits for the nontrawl sablefish fishery will remain in effect until

the effective date of the 1998 annual specifications and management

measures for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery, which will be

published in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted through

October 22, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on these actions should be sent to William Stelle,

Jr.,

[[Page 53578]]

Administrator, Northwest Region, (Regional Administrator), NMFS, 7600

Sand Point Way NE., Bldg. 1, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or to William

Hogarth, Acting Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean

Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213. Information relevant to

these actions has been compiled in aggregate form and is available for

public review during business hours at the office of the Regional

Administrator.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William L. Robinson at 206-526-6140;

or Svein Fougner at 562-980-4034.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 1, 1997, NMFS published an

inseason action (62 FR 51381) to announce the start and end dates for

the limited entry, fixed gear mop-up fishery for sablefish. When the

notice was published, 612 mt (1,349,215 lb) of sablefish was available

to the mop-up fishery. The Regional Administrator, in consultation with

the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), set a mop-up season

with a cumulative trip limit of 8,500 lb (3,851 kg) (round weight), to

be taken in a 2-week period (October 1-15, 1997). NMFS expected that

almost all of the limited entry permit holders with sablefish

endorsements would participate in the mop-up fishery and would catch

the full cumulative limit amount.

As the mop-up season has progressed, NMFS and the states of

Washington, Oregon, and California have received numerous telephone

calls from fishermen with sablefish endorsements who are concerned

about fishing under unusually difficult wind and storm conditions, and

who have asked if the mop-up season might be extended. In confirmation

of these reports from fishermen, NMFS has noted that the National

Weather Service (NWS) announced several severe weather warnings over

the week of October 1-8, 1997, that would likely deter fishers from

fishing in the mop-up fishery. In addition, as of October 8, 1997, NWS

is forecasting continued high winds, gale warnings, and small craft

advisories along the Pacific coast.

NMFS consulted with the three states, the Coast Guard, and the

Council Chair on whether to extend the length of the mop-up season. The

Coast Guard expressed particular concern about the safety of the small

vessels that participate in this fishery, as a result of bad weather.

All three states and the Council Chair endorsed extending the mop-up

season for 1 week. This extension is designed to allow flexibility for

fishermen who were not able to fish during the bad weather of the first

week of the mop-up fishery. In addition, it should deter fishermen from

fishing in the dangerous weather that is still forecast, because they

will have an additional week to harvest their limit. The season is only

being extended by 1 week in order to limit the impacts on the

participants in the daily trip limit fishery, whose fishery is delayed

until the end of the mop-up fishery. This extension still allows the

daily trip limit fishermen to operate the last 9.5 days in October.

Therefore, the Regional Administrator agreed to extend the length of

the mop-up season, so that the season will end on Wednesday, October

22, at noon. This notice does not change the cumulative trip limit

amount.

As announced in the October 1, 1997, notice on the mop-up fishery,

daily trip limits will be reimposed after the mop-up fishery and until

the end of the year. Following the mop-up season, the daily trip limits

will be 300 lb (136 kg) per day, with no more than 1,500 lb (680 kg)

taken in any one calendar month.

A daily trip limit is the maximum amount that may be taken and

retained, possessed, or landed per vessel in 24 consecutive hours,

starting at 0001 hours l.t. Only one landing of groundfish may be made

in that 24-hour period. Daily trip limits may not be accumulated. If a

trip lasts more than 1 day, only one daily trip limit is allowed. Daily

trip limits were in effect until the beginning of the regular season,

and went back into effect after the post-season closure ended on

September 5, 1997. A cumulative trip limit is the maximum amount of

sablefish that may be taken and retained, possessed, or landed per

vessel in a specified period of time, with no limit on the number of

landings or trips. In addition, no more than one mop-up cumulative

limit may be landed on each limited entry permit with a sablefish

endorsement.

The sablefish daily trip limit for the limited entry fishery after

the mop-up season is 300 lb (136 kg) per day, with no more than 1,500

lb (680 kg) to be taken in any one calendar month. Since the daily trip

limits apply to a 24-hour day starting at 0001 hours, but the mop-up

fishery begins and ends at 1200 hours, it will be legal for a vessel in

the limited entry fishery to land a daily trip limit between 1201 hours

and 2400 hours on October 22, 1997, following the mop-up season.

NMFS Actions

NMFS announces an extension to the end date of the nontrawl

sablefish limited entry mop-up fishery and a delay in the reopening of

the limited entry daily trip limit fishery. All other provisions remain

in effect. In the January 6, 1997 (62 FR 700) annual management

measures, as amended at 62 FR 51381, October 1, 1997, paragraphs

IV.E.(2)(c) introductory text and IV.E.(2)(C)(iii) are revised to read

as follows:

IV. * * *

E. * * *

(2) Limited Entry Fishery. * * *

(c) Nontrawl trip and size limits. (i) Daily trip limits. Effective

1201 hours October 22, 1997. The daily trip limit for sablefish taken

and retained with nontrawl gear north of 36 deg.00' N. lat. is 300 lb

(136 kg), not to exceed 1,500 lb (680 kg) cumulative in a calendar

month.

* * * * *

(iii) Mop-up Fishery. Effective 1201 hours October 1, 1997, until

1200 hours l.t. October 22, 1997, the cumulative trip limit for

sablefish caught with nontrawl gear in the limited entry fishery is

8,500 lb (3,851 kg) per vessel.

(Note: The States of Washington, Oregon, and California use a

conversion factor of 1.6 to convert dressed sablefish to its round-

weight equivalent. Therefore, 8,500 lb (3,851 kg) round weight

corresponds to 5,313 lb (2,407 kg) for dressed sablefish.)

Classification

These actions are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish

Fishery Management Plan, which governs the harvest of groundfish in the

U.S. exclusive economic zone off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and

California. The determination to take these actions is based on the

most recent data available. The aggregate data upon which the

determinations are based are available for public inspection at the

office of the Regional Administrator (see ADDRESSES) during business

hours. Because of the need for immediate action to extend the mop-up

fishery for sablefish, as described above, NMFS has determined that

providing an opportunity for public notice and prior comment would be

contrary to the public interest. Participants in the mop-up season

sablefish fishery are concerned about their safety in dangerous fishing

conditions. Delay of this rule could prevent NMFS from allowing smooth

extension of the mop-up season and would give fishermen strong

incentives to fish in bad weather in order to catch their limit before

October 15. Therefore, the agency has determined that good cause exists

for this document to be published without affording a prior opportunity

for public comment or a 30-day delayed effectiveness period. These

actions are taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.323(a)(2), and are

exempt from review under E.O. 12866.

[[Page 53579]]

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

Dated: October 9, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97-27296 Filed 10-9-97; 4:24 pm]

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