Browse: Departments   Dates   Agencies  

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

CFR Citation: 50 CFR Part 679

Docket ID: [Docket No. 021122286-3036-02; I.D. 110602B]

NOTICE: RULES

ACTION: Fishery conservation and management:

DOCUMENT ACTION: Final 2003 harvest specifications for groundfish and associated management measures; closures.

SUBJECT CATEGORY: Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of Alaska; Final 2003 Harvest Specifications for Groundfish

DATES: The final 2003 harvest specifications and associated management measures are effective at 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), February 25, 2003, through 2400 hrs, A.l.t, December 31, 2003.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY: NMFS announces final 2003 harvest specifications for groundfish, reserves and apportionments thereof, Pacific halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, and associated management measures for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits and associated management measures for groundfish during the 2003 fishing year and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the GOA (FMP). The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MagnusonStevens Act).

SUMMARY: Gulf of Alaska groundfish,

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Background for the 2003 Final Harvest Specifications

NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the GOA under the FMP. The Council prepared the FMP under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq. Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679.

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 (OY) range of 116,000 to 800,000 metric tons (mt) (Sec. 679.20(a)(1)(ii)). Regulations at Sec. 679.20(c)(3)(i) further require NMFS to publish annually the final annual TACs, halibut PSC amounts, and seasonal allowances of pollock, Pacific cod, and inshore/offshore Pacific cod. The final specifications set forth in Tables 1 to 11 of this document satisfy these requirements. For 2003, the sum of TAC amounts is 236,440 mt.

The proposed GOA groundfish specifications and Pacific halibut PSC allowances for the groundfish fishery of the GOA were published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2002 (67 FR 76344). Comments were invited and accepted through January 13, 2003. NMFS received one comment on the proposed specifications. This comment is summarized and responded to in the ``Response to Comments'' section. Public consultation with the Council occurred during the December 2002 Council meeting in Anchorage, AK. After considering public comments received, as well as biological and economic data that were available at the Council's December meeting, NMFS is implementing the final 2003 groundfish specifications as recommended by the Council.

Regulations at Sec. 679.20(c)(2)(i) establish interim amounts of each proposed TAC and apportionment thereof, and proposed PSC allowances established under Sec. 679.21 that become available at 0001 hours, A.l.t., January 1, and remain available until superseded by the final specifications. NMFS published the interim 2003 groundfish harvest specifications in the Federal Register on December 26, 2002 (67 FR 78733). The final 2003 groundfish harvest specifications, apportionments, and halibut PSC allowances contained in this action supersede the interim 2003 groundfish harvest specifications. Implementation of Steller Sea Lion Conservation Measures

In accordance with a biological opinion issued by NMFS on October 19, 2001, NMFS implemented a final rule for Steller sea lion protection (68 FR 204, January 2, 2003) that contains measures that were deemed necessary to avoid the likelihood that the pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel fisheries off Alaska will jeopardize the continued existence of the western population of Steller sea lions or adversely modify its critical habitat. The final rule implements three types of management measures for the pollock and Pacific cod fisheries of the

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Tom Pearson, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, 9074811780 or email at
tom.pearson@noaa.gov.