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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 38 / Monday, March 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Authority The authorities for this action are 16
U.S.C. 13611407; 15311544; and 42014245, unless otherwise noted.
Martha Williams, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Exercising the Delegated Authority of the Director, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. 202104209 Filed 22621; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 433315P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Parts 679 and 680
Docket No. 2102190025
RIN 0648BJ73

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program; Amendment 111
National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 111 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska Management Area GOA FMP and a regulatory amendment to reauthorize the Central Gulf of Alaska CGOA
Rockfish Program. This final rule retains the conservation, management, safety, and economic gains realized under the Rockfish Program and makes minor revisions to improve administration of the Rockfish Program. This final rule is necessary to continue the conservation benefits, improve efficiency, and provide economic benefits of the Rockfish Program that would otherwise expire on December 31, 2021. This final rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the GOA FMP, and other applicable laws.
DATES: This rule is effective on March 31, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Environmental Assessment and the Regulatory Impact Review collectively referred to as the Analysis and the Finding of No Significant Impact prepared for this final rule may be obtained from https
www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS
Alaska Region website at https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska.
SUMMARY:

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Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this final rule may be submitted to NMFS Alaska Region, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK
998021668, Attn: Glenn Merrill; in person at NMFS Alaska Region, 709
West 9th Street, Room 401, Juneau, AK;
and to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting Currently under 30-day ReviewOpen for Public Comments or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephanie Warpinski, 9075867228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
published the Notice of Availability for Amendment 111 in the Federal Register on July 27, 2020 85 FR 15367, with public comments invited through September 28, 2020. NMFS published the proposed rule to implement Amendment 111 in the Federal Register on September 4, 2020 85 FR 55243
with public comments invited through October 5, 2020. The Secretary of Commerce approved Amendment 111
on October 22, 2020 after accounting for information from the public, and determining that Amendment 111 is consistent with the GOA FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable laws. The FMP amendment text includes two grammatical errors that were not found prior to the approval. These errors do not materially change the language in the FMP
amendment nor are these errors reflected in the regulatory text that this final rule promulgates. The regulatory text accurately reflects the amendments intent. NMFS received ten comment letters on the proposed Amendment 111
and the proposed rule. A summary of the comments and NMFS responses are provided under the heading Comments and Responses below.
Background The following background sections describe the Rockfish Program and the need for this final rule.
The Rockfish Program This section provides a brief overview of the existing Rockfish Program. A
detailed description of the Rockfish Program and its development is provided in the preamble to the proposed rule and in Section 1.2 of the Analysis.
The Rockfish Program is a type of limited access privilege program LAPP
developed to enhance resource conservation and improve economic efficiency in the CGOA rockfish
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fisheries. The Rockfish Program as implemented under this final rule will continue the LAPP management structure, and will provide the same benefits established under the previous Rockfish Program implemented by Amendment 88 to the GOA FMP 76 FR
81247, December 27, 2011. For more information about the background and history of this program, see the preamble to the proposed rule 85 FR
55243, September 4, 2020 and the Analysis See ADDRESSES.
The Rockfish Program 1 assigns quota share QS and cooperative quota CQ to participants for primary and secondary species, 2 allows a participant holding an LLP license with rockfish QS to form a rockfish cooperative with other persons, 3
allows holders of catcher/processor LLP
licenses to opt-out of rockfish cooperatives for a given year, 4
establishes a limited access fishery for participants who do not participate in a fishery cooperative for a given year, 5
includes an entry level longline fishery for persons who do not hold rockfish QS, 6 establishes constraints, commonly known as sideboard limits, for other non-Rockfish Program fisheries that apply to vessels and LLP licenses eligible to participate in the Rockfish Program, and 7 includes monitoring and enforcement provisions.
As summarized in Sections 2 and 3.5
of the Analysis See ADDRESSES, the Rockfish Program provided greater security to harvesters through the formation of rockfish cooperatives.
Fishing under cooperative management resulted in a slower-paced fishery that allows a harvester to choose when to fish. The Rockfish Program also provided greater stability for processors by spreading out production over a longer period. Overall, the Rockfish Program provides greater benefits to shoreside processors, catcher/
processors, CGOA fishermen, and communities than were realized under the previous LLP management scheme.
Need for This Final Rule Under Amendment 88, the current Rockfish Program was given a 10-year life span. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council Council recommended this action to prevent the Rockfish Program from expiring on December 31, 2021. This final rule maintains the conservation management, safety, and economic benefits of the Rockfish Program and improves efficiency by making minor revisions to existing regulations to improve administrative provisions of the Rockfish Program.

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