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Proposed Rules
Federal Register Vol. 86, No. 29
Tuesday, February 16, 2021

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 660
Docket No. 2102050013
RIN 0648BK25

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021
Harvest Specifications for Pacific Whiting, and 2021 Pacific Whiting Tribal Allocation National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
AGENCY:

NMFS issues the proposed rule for the 2021 Pacific whiting fishery under the authority of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Pacific Whiting Act of 2006, and other applicable laws. This proposed rule would allocate 17.5 percent of the U.S.
total allowable catch of Pacific whiting for 2021 to Pacific Coast Indian tribes that have a treaty right to harvest groundfish, and implement set-asides for Pacific whiting research and incidental mortality in other fisheries.
The proposed measures are intended to help prevent overfishing, achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on the best scientific information available.
DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received no later than March 18, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA
NMFS20210002 by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/

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!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20210002, click the Comment Now! icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Barry Thom, c/o Stacey Miller, Sustainable Fisheries Division, West Coast Region, NMFS, 1201 NE
Lloyd Blvd. Suite 1100, Portland, OR
97232.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information e.g., name, address, etc., confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments enter N/A in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous.
Electronic Access This proposed rule is accessible via the internet at the Office of the Federal Register website at https
www.federalregister.gov. Background information and documents are available at the NMFS website at https www.fisheries.noaa.gov and at the Pacific Fishery Management Councils website at http
www.pcouncil.org/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stacey Miller, phone: 5032316290, and email: Stacey.Miller@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background This rule proposes establishing the 2021 set-asides for research and incidental mortality of Pacific whiting as recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council Council and the 2021 tribal allocation for the Pacific whiting fishery. The allocations for Pacific whiting would be effective until December 31, 2021.
The transboundary stock of Pacific whiting is managed through the Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada on Pacific Hake/
Whiting of 2003 Agreement. The Agreement establishes bilateral bodies to implement the terms of the Agreement. The bilateral bodies
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include: The Joint Management Committee JMC, which recommends the annual catch level for Pacific whiting; the Joint Technical Committee JTC, which conducts the Pacific whiting stock assessment; the Scientific Review Group SRG, which reviews the stock assessment; and the Advisory Panel AP, which provides stakeholder input to the JMC.
The Agreement establishes a default harvest policy of F40 percent, which means a fishing mortality rate that would reduce the spawning biomass to 40 percent of the estimated unfished level. The Agreement also allocates 73.88 percent of the Pacific whiting total allowable catch TAC to the United States and 26.12 percent of the TAC to Canada. Based on recommendations from the Treatys JTC, SRG, and AP, the JMC determines the overall Pacific whiting TAC by March 25th of each year, which is subsequently approved by NMFS, under the delegation of authority from the Secretary of Commerce.
The final rule will announce the total 2021 U.S. TAC and establish the 2021
tribal allocation and non-tribal fishery harvest guideline HG, also called the non-tribal allocation. To determine the HG, the 2021 tribal allocation and setaside for research and incidental mortality are deducted from the total U.S. TAC. The HG is then allocated among the three non-tribal sectors of the Pacific whiting fishery: The catcher/
processor C/P Coop Program, the Mothership MS Coop Program and the Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota IFQ Program. The HG is not included in this proposed rule due to the timing of the SRG and JMC meetings when the 2021 overall TAC will be determined by the JMC, and subsequently approved by the Secretary of Commerce, with the concurrence of the Department of State.
Tribal Allocations The regulations at 50 CFR 660.50d identify the procedures for implementing the treaty rights that Pacific Coast treaty Indian tribes have to harvest groundfish in their usual and accustomed fishing areas in U.S. waters.
Tribes with treaty fishing rights in the area covered by the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP request allocations, set-asides, or regulations specific to the tribes during the Councils biennial harvest specifications and management
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