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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations while the 2022 harvest specifications are projected only for the following year 2022 and will be superseded in early 2022 by the final 2022 and 2023 harvest specifications. Because this final action published in early 2021 will be superseded in early 2022 by the publication of the final 2022 and 2023
harvest specifications, it is projected that this final action will implement the harvest specifications for the BSAI for approximately one year.
Other Actions Affecting the 2021 and 2022 Harvest Specifications State of Alaska Guideline Harvest Levels For 2021 and 2022, the Board of Fisheries BOF for the State of Alaska State established the guideline harvest level GHL for vessels using pot gear in State waters in the Bering Sea subarea BS equal to 10 percent of the Pacific cod ABC in the BS. The States pot gear BS GHL will increase one percent annually up to 15 percent of the BS
ABC, if 90 percent of the GHL is harvested by November 15 of the preceding year. If 90 percent of the 2021
BS GHL is not harvested by November 15, 2021, then the 2022 BS GHL will remain at the same percent as the 2021
BS GHL 10 percent. If 90 percent of the 2021 BS GHL is harvested by November 15, 2021, then the 2022 BS GHL will increase by one percent and the 2022 BS
TAC will be set to account for the increased BS GHL. Also, for 2021 and 2022, the BOF established an additional GHL for vessels using jig gear in State waters in the BS equal to 45 mt of Pacific cod in the BS. The Council and its Plan Team, SSC, and AP
recommended that the sum of all State and Federal water Pacific cod removals from the BS not exceed the ABC
recommendations for Pacific cod in the BS. Accordingly, the Council recommended, and NMFS approves, that the 2021 and 2022 Pacific cod TACs in the BS account for the States GHLs for Pacific cod caught in State waters in the BS.
For 2021 and 2022, the BOF for the State established the GHL in State waters in the Aleutian Islands subarea AI equal to 39 percent of the AI ABC.
The AI GHL will increase annually by 4 percent of the AI ABC, if 90 percent of the GHL is harvested by November 15
of the preceding year, but may not exceed 39 percent of the AI ABC or 15
million pounds 6,804 mt. For 2021, 39
percent of the AI ABC is 8,034 mt, which exceeds the AI GHL limit of 6,804 mt. The Council and its Plan Team, SSC, and AP recommended that the sum of all State and Federal water Pacific cod removals from the AI not
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exceed the ABC recommendations for Pacific cod in the AI. Accordingly, the Council recommended, and NMFS
approves, that the 2021 and 2022 Pacific cod TACs in the AI account for the States GHL of 6,804 mt for Pacific cod caught in State waters in the AI.
Amendment 121 to the FMP: Reclassify Sculpins as an Ecosystem Component Species On July 10, 2020, NMFS published the final rule to implement Amendment 121 to the FMP 85 FR 41427. The final rule reclassified sculpins in the FMP as an Ecosystem Component species, which is a category of non-target species that are not in need of conservation and management. Accordingly, NMFS will no longer set an OFL, ABC, and TAC for sculpins in the BSAI groundfish harvest specifications, beginning with the 2021
and 2022 harvest specifications.
Changes From the Proposed 2021 and 2022 Harvest Specifications for the BSAI
The Councils recommendations for the proposed 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications 85 FR 78096, December 3, 2020 were based largely on information contained in the 2019 SAFE
report for the BSAI groundfish fisheries.
Through the proposed harvest specifications, NMFS notified the public that these harvest specifications could change, as the Council would consider information contained in the 2020 SAFE
report; recommendations from the Plan Team, SSC, and AP; and public comments when making its recommendations for final harvest specifications at the December 2020
Council meeting. NMFS further notified the public that, as required by the FMP
and its implementing regulations, the sum of the TACs must be within the OY
range of 1.4 million and 2.0 million mt.
Information contained in the 2020
SAFE report indicates biomass changes from the 2019 SAFE report for several groundfish species. The 2020 report was made available for public review during the public comment period for the proposed harvest specifications. At the December 2020 Council meeting, the SSC recommended the 2021 and 2022
OFLs and ABCs based on the best and most recent information contained in the 2020 SAFE report. The SSC
recommended slight model adjustments for Eastern BS pollock, but accepted Plan Team recommendations for all other species, except for BS Pacific cod and sablefish. The SSCs recommendation resulted in an ABC
sum total for all BSAI groundfish species in excess of 2.0 million mt for both 2021 and 2022.

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Revisions to the Sablefish Apportionment of the ABC
The Alaska-wide sablefish ABC is apportioned between six areas within the BSAI and Gulf of Alaska BS, AI, Western Gulf, Central Gulf, West Yakutat, and East Yakutat/Southeast areas. Since 2013, a fixed apportionment methodology has been used to apportion the ABC between those six areas. However, a new apportionment methodology will be used for 2021 and 2022 that affects the apportionment of sablefish ABC and the area TACs that are allocated between the trawl and fixed gear sectors. The Joint BSAI and GOA Groundfish Plan Team, SSC, and Council reviewed a range of apportionment approaches for the sablefish ABC for the harvest specifications, including a range from the status quo fixed apportionment and the sablefish assessment authors recommended non-exponential 5-year survey moving average. The Joint Plan Team recommended that, to the extent practical, moving away from the fixed apportionment to the true distribution of the stock would be preferred from a biological perspective. The SSC
recommended a 25 percent stair step from the current fixed apportionment percentages toward the non-exponential 5-year survey moving average proposed by the assessment authors. The Council and NMFS have adopted the SSCs recommendation for the 2021 and 2022
ABC apportionments. For 2021 this increases the ABC apportionments in all areas for example, up to 60 percent in the AI subarea, with smaller increases in areas that have recently been apportioned a greater percentage under the fixed apportionment methodology than suggested by recent survey observations for example, only a 17
percent increase in the East Yakutat/
Southeast area. In addition, the final 2021 TACs for the BS and AI areas both increased relative to the proposed 2021
TACs, in part due to the change in apportionment methodology.
Based on decreased fishing effort in 2020, the Council recommends final BS
pollock TACs decrease by 75,000 mt in 2021 and 50,000 mt in 2022 compared to the proposed 2021 and 2022 BS
pollock TACs. In terms of weight, the largest increases in final 2021 TACs relative to the proposed 2021 TACs include BS Pacific cod and BSAI
yellowfin sole. For Pacific cod, the 2021
TAC increase is in response to the increase in the 2021 ABC and the Councils recommendation of the highest TAC after accounting for the States GHL. For yellowfin sole, the increase is in response to the
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