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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Proposed Rules
16 U.S.C. 773c allows the Regional Council having authority for a particular geographical area to develop regulations governing the allocation and catch of halibut in U.S. Convention waters as long as those regulations do not conflict with IPHC regulations. The proposed action is consistent with the Councils authority to allocate halibut catches among fishery participants in the waters in and off Washington, Oregon, and California.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, for the following reasons:
For Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA
purposes only, NMFS has established a small business size standard for businesses, including their affiliates.
Previous analyses determined that charterboats are small businesses see 77
FR 5477 February 3, 2012 and 76 FR
2876 January 18, 2011. Charter fishing operations are classified under NAICS
code, 487210, with a corresponding Small Business Association size standard of $7.5 million in annual receipts. No commercial fishing entities are directly affected by this rule.
This rule would revise the recreational Pacific halibut fishery management measures, such as season dates and catch limits that are set in NMFS regulations. This proposed rule
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would open the recreational fishery with 2021 season dates and subarea allocations impacting charter boats, anglers, and businesses relying on recreational fishing across all of Area 2A. This rule also proposes minor changes, including groundfish species retention, allowable fishing gear, and opening closed areas, to the recreational halibut fishery, impacting participants in the Washington, Oregon, and California recreational subareas. The proposed revisions were uncontroversial throughout the Councils public process.
In 2020, the IPHC issued 86 licenses to the charterboat fleet for Area 2A.
Analysis of the most recent data available on charterboat activity indicates that 60 percent of the IPHC
charterboat license holders around 50
vessels participate in the Pacific halibut recreational fishery and may be affected by these regulations as those vessels operate in Area 2A. Private vessels used for recreational fishing are not businesses and are therefore not subject to the RFA.
The major impact of halibut management on small entities will result from the IPHC catch limits, which are determined independently from this proposed action. This proposed action would implement management measures including season dates and allocations for the recreational fishery, and would make minor changes to the Catch Sharing Plan to provide increased recreational opportunities under the allocations that result from the Area 2A
catch limit. The proposed changes to the
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Catch Sharing Plan in this proposed action are minor, with minimal economic effects. Profitability is more heavily influenced by the catch limit decision made by the IPHC, with subarea quotas determined based on the Catch Sharing Plan framework and the allocation formulae recommended by the Council. Therefore, the proposed rule is unlikely to affect overall participation in the recreational fisheries or to change the profitability of the recreational fishery. Additionally, there are no large entities involved in the halibut fisheries off of the West Coast. Because this action will only impact recreational charter vessels, which are small entities, these revisions will not have a disproportionately negative effect on small entities versus large entities.
For the reasons described above, NMFS concludes that the proposed action, if adopted, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. As a result, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required, and none has been prepared.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Dated: February 8, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch, III, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine Fisheries Service.
FR Doc. 202102831 Filed 21121; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 351022P

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