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DOC/NOAA | RIN: 0648-BH88 | Publication ID: Fall 2018 |
Title: Revisions to Regulations for Species With Sideboard Limits That Cannot Support Directed Fishing by Vessels Subject to Sideboards in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska | |
Abstract:
This rule proposes to implement an action of the Northern Pacific Fishery Management Council by revising Federal regulations to prohibit directed fishing for those species with sideboard limits that are not large enough to support directed fishing by non-exempt American Fisheries Act vessels in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska and crab vessels in the Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program) in the Gulf of Alaska, or for those species that are fully allocated to other programs (e.g., flathead sole, rock sole, Western Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel). NMFS would then no longer publish American Fisheries Act and CR Program sideboard amounts for those species in the annual harvest specifications. In addition, the action would remove the sideboard limit on American Fisheries Act catcher/processors for Central Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel because the sideboard limit under the American Fisheries Act (11.5 percent) is constrained by the allocation to the trawl limited access sector (10 percent) that was established by the Amendment 80 Program. The primary benefits of this action are that it would streamline the annual harvest specifications, reduce the annual costs of preparing and publishing the annual harvest specifications in the Federal Register, and simplify NMFS' annual programming changes to the agency's groundfish catch accounting system. This action would not alter how NMFS actually manages the relevant sideboard limits, and NMFS would continue to monitor Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska groundfish catch to ensure that each species' total allowable catch limit is not exceeded. This action would not incur any negative impacts to American Fisheries Act and crab sideboard limited vessels for the foreseeable future. |
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Agency: Department of Commerce(DOC) | Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant |
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Proposed Rule Stage |
Major: No | Unfunded Mandates: No |
EO 13771 Designation: Not subject to, not significant | |
CFR Citation: 50 CFR 679 50 CFR 680 | |
Legal Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. |
Legal Deadline:
None |
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Timetable:
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Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes | Government Levels Affected: None |
Small Entities Affected: Businesses | Federalism: No |
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No | |
RIN Data Printed in the FR: Yes | |
Agency Contact: James Balsiger Regional Administrator, Alaska Region Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 709 West Ninth Street, Juneau, AK 99801 Phone:907 586-7221 Email: jim.balsiger@noaa.gov |