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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 210 / Wednesday, November 3, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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Cook Inlet EEZ to commercial salmon fishing. Alternative 1 would have been inconsistent with the Ninth Circuit ruling, and at the December 2020
Council meeting, the State announced it would not accept a delegation of management authority. Therefore, Alternatives 3 and 4 were the only viable management alternatives for the Council by the time it took final action.
After this extensive public review and development process, the Council recommended Alternative 4 as Amendment 14 to the Salmon FMP in December 2020. In accordance with section 304a and b of the MagnusonStevens Act, NMFS approved Amendment 14 and implements it with this final rule.
Amendment 14 and This Final Rule Amendment 14 incorporates the Cook Inlet EEZ Subarea defined as the EEZ
waters of Cook Inlet north of a line at 5946.15 N into the Salmon FMPs West Area, thereby bringing the Cook Inlet EEZ Subarea and the commercial salmon fishery that occurs within it under Federal management by the Council and NMFS. Amendment 14
applies the prohibition on commercial salmon fishing that is currently established in the West Area to the newly added Cook Inlet EEZ Subarea.
Most other existing FMP provisions that apply to the West Area also apply to the Cook Inlet EEZ Subarea. This action specifically addresses management of the Cook Inlet EEZ Subarea and the commercial salmon fishery that occurs there. With Amendment 14 and this final rule, the Council and NMFS are amending the Salmon FMP and Federal regulations to comply with the Ninth Circuits decision, the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law.
This action 1 takes the most precautionary approach to minimizing the potential for overfishing, 2
provides the greatest opportunity for maximum harvest from the Cook Inlet salmon fishery, 3 avoids creating new management uncertainty, 4 minimizes regulatory burden to fishery participants, 5 maximizes management efficiency for the Cook Inlet salmon fishery and 6 avoids the introduction of an additional management jurisdiction into the already complex and interdependent network of Cook Inlet salmon fishery sectors.
This final rule implements Amendment 14 by removing the regulation that excludes the Cook Inlet EEZ Subarea from the directly adjacent West Area. This final rule revises the definition of Salmon Management Area at 50 CFR 679.2 to redefine the Cook Inlet Area as the Cook Inlet EEZ

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Subarea and incorporate it into the West Area. This final rule also revises Figure 23 to 50 CFR part 679 consistent with the revised definition of the Salmon Management Area at 679.2. As part of the West Area, the Cook Inlet EEZ
Subarea will be subject to the prohibition on commercial fishing for salmon at 679.7h2.
This final rule does not modify existing State management measures, nor does it preclude the State from adopting additional management measures that could provide additional harvest opportunities for the Cook Inlet salmon fishery, including commercial drift gillnet fishermen, within State waters.
As this action prohibits commercial salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ
Subarea consistent with existing Federal management in adjacent West Area waters, no additional Federal fishery management measures are required. The West Area prohibition on commercial salmon fishing will continue to be enforced by State and Federal authorities under the revised boundaries resulting from this action. For additional information about Amendment 14 and implementing regulations, see the preamble to the proposed rule June 4, 2021, 86 FR
29977.
Comments and Responses NMFS received 56 comment submissions on the NOA for Amendment 14 and the proposed rule.
NMFS has summarized and responded to 67 unique and relevant comments below. Several comment submissions were duplicates or addressed topics outside the scope of the proposed rule.
The comments were from individuals, environmental groups, State government personnel, local government personnel, and industry participants. Comments are organized by topic into the following categories: Comments in support of this action, General comments, National Standards 1 and 3, National Standard 8, Economic impacts, Consistency with other National Standards, Impacts on marine mammals, Comments on the development of Amendment 14, Comments on State salmon management, and Comments on legal issues.
Comments in Support of This Action Comment 1: This action will protect valuable Cook Inlet salmon runs for future generations of users from all states and is supported by the available scientific evidence. This action is necessary to preserve and protect this vital resource.

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Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
Comment 2: This action will support sustainable management of all salmon stocks in Cook Inlet, provide harvest opportunities to a wide variety of Cook Inlet salmon fishery sectors, and reduce the likelihood of future fishery disaster declarations.
Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
Comment 3: The State has appropriately managed the Cook Inlet salmon fishery since before statehood and is better situated to continue inseason management of the Cook Inlet salmon fishery than the slow and cumbersome Federal management process.
Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
Comment 4: The Alaska Department of Fish and Game ADFG supports implementation of Amendment 14 as outlined in the proposed rule. The proposed rule and Analysis use the best scientific information available and provide a sufficient basis for NMFS to approve and implement Amendment 14.
Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
Comment 5: ADFG agrees with the conclusions included in the Analysis that implementation of Amendment 14
to prohibit commercial salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ is not expected to result in a significant change in the conditions of Cook Inlet salmon stocks and other living marine resources and their habitats.
Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
General Comments Comment 6: The impacts of Amendment 14 are uncertain at best and disastrous at worst because it would severely complicate effective sustainable fishery management for biologists by limiting the entire drift gillnet fleet into a three nautical mile State waters corridor to harvest the returning fish.
Response: As described in Section 4.7.1.4 of the Analysis, NMFS
acknowledges that this action would decrease the area available for the drift gillnet fleet to harvest Cook Inlet salmon relative to the status quo. Section 4.5.2
of the Analysis notes that during peak commercial fishing times the fishery can already be limited to State waters by the State for conservation and management purposes.
NMFS disagrees that Amendment 14
would complicate effective and sustainable management of the Cook Inlet salmon fishery. Closing the EEZ to commercial salmon fishing avoids
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