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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 52 / Friday, March 19, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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of the year where value could be maximized and efficiencies improved.
An earlier or later end date was not given a large amount of consideration as November 15 corresponds closely with when processors and plants are generally closing for the fishing year.
This Emergency Rule and Justification for Emergency Action This emergency rule modifies the season start date from May 1, 2021 to April 1, 2021 for fishing vessel members of a cooperative under the Rockfish Program in the 2021 fishing year. This emergency rule is intended to provide flexibility for vessel operators and shoreside processors that receive deliveries from harvesters in a cooperative by establishing a longer timeframe in which they would be able to harvest the quota. This emergency rule adds regulations at 679.80a3iii to modify the season start date to begin on April 1 at 1200
hours Alaska local time for the 2021
fishing year. This emergency rule temporarily suspends regulations at 679.80a3ii that authorize fishing vessels that are members of rockfish cooperatives to commence fishing on May 1 at 1200 hours Alaska local time for the 2021 fishing year. The season end date of November 15 at 1200 hours Alaska local time remains unchanged.
This emergency rule does not modify any other aspect of the Rockfish Program. Modifying the season start date to April 1 would only affect the 2021 fishing year. In subsequent years, the season start date would return to May 1.
This emergency action does not impose additional restrictions on the fishery, but would alleviate limitations on the fishery. This emergency rule does not increase the amount of fish available to harvest, increase the risk of overharvest, or otherwise modify conservation measures. This emergency rule is needed to allow for the complete and efficient harvest of the rockfish fishery and to temporarily alleviate unforeseen economic and social consequences due to the recent and unforeseen limitations on the rockfish fishery. This emergency rule does not modify existing requirements on the types of vessels and gear that could be used, monitoring requirements, record keeping regulations, or other aspects of the Rockfish Program.
Section 305c of the MagnusonStevens Act authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to address an emergency. Under that section, a Council may request that the Secretary promulgate emergency regulations.
NMFSs Policy Guidelines for the Use of
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Emergency Rules require that an emergency must exist and that NMFS
have an administrative record justifying emergency regulatory action and demonstrating compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the National Standards see NMFS Procedure 01
10107 March 31, 2008 and 62 FR
44421; August 21, 1997. Emergency rulemaking is intended for circumstances that are extremely urgent, where substantial harm to or disruption of the . . . fishery . . .
would be caused in the time it would take to follow standard rulemaking procedures 62 FR 4442101.
Under NMFS Policy Guidelines for the Use of Emergency Rules, the phrase an emergency exists involving any fishery is defined as a situation that meets the following three criteria:
1. Results from recent, unforeseen events or recently discovered circumstances;
2. Presents serious conservation or management problems in the fishery;
and 3. Can be addressed through emergency regulations for which the immediate benefits outweigh the value of advance notice, public comment, and deliberative consideration of the impacts on participants to the same extent as would be expected under the normal rule making process.
The following sections describe why the Council and NMFS determined that modifying the season start date to April 1 for the 2021 fishing year meets these criteria.
Criterion 1Recent, Unforeseen Events or Recently Discovered Circumstances Two recent and recently discovered circumstances have limited the ability of vessels to harvest and process groundfish in the port of Kodiak in 2021. Rockfish Program catcher vessels and the shoreside processors the vessels deliver to are located only in the port of Kodiak. First, beginning in early 2021, the groundfish fleet operating out of Kodiak has discovered that there are no longer economically viable markets for a variety of flatfish species, including species such as arrowtooth flounder. For several decades, these markets have been essential to harvesters and processors operating out of Kodiak. This lack of economically viable markets has created an unforeseen lack of harvesting and deliveries to processors operating out of Kodiak in the month of April. The U.S. government has recognized the impact of limited seafood markets and included flatfish fisheries prosecuted in Alaska in the Seafood Trade Relief Program STRP, which provides payments to eligible commercial
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fishermen of seafood commodities that have been impacted by trade actions of foreign governments resulting in the loss of exports 85 FR 56572. In addition to flatfish, Kodiak processors and harvesters are heavily dependent on the salmon and rockfish fisheries.
Rockfish landings at Kodiak processors occur in May and June, after flatfish in April, and are followed by summer salmon landings.
Second, COVID19 outbreaks in January and February 2021 in three large processors in the communities of Akutan and Unalaska, shut down fishing and processing operations in those communities for several weeks, creating widespread disruptions during the fishing season and broad economic impacts. Throughout 2020, processing facilities in Alaska were able to operate effectively with limited long-term disruption to processing activities.
While Kodiak processors have not seen widespread COVID19 outbreaks, the mitigation measures there mirrored those of the three large processors in the communities of Akutan and Unalaska.
The closure of processing facilities in Alaska in early 2021 was not anticipated based on largely successful mitigation of COVID19 in 2020. Even with strict mitigation measures in place, these outbreaks raise concern of future outbreaks across processing facilities in Alaska. Given the continued risk of COVID19 transmission and outbreaks, and lack of widespread vaccinations, fishery participants anticipate there may be additional processor shutdowns throughout 2021.
For Kodiak processors, an earlier start date for the Rockfish Program will help alleviate the operational disruption and economic impact from the lack of a flatfish market in April and will help ensure adequate processing capacity to fully prosecute the rockfish program fisheries throughout the 2021 fishing season. Due to these limitations, and the recent, unforeseen circumstances, an emergency action is required to move the start date of the 2021 Rockfish Program fishery to April 1.
Criterion 2Presents Serious Conservation or Management Problems in the Fishery Recent, unforeseen, and ongoing COVID19 outbreaks in processing plants across Alaska present serious management problems in the Rockfish Program. If the season start is not moved to April 1, 2021, there is a risk that the rockfish season may conflict with the summer salmon fisheries, causing seafood businesses to choose between one revenue source or another, particularly if a COVID outbreak occurs
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