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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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of Southeast Alaska halibut and sablefish QS and second generation QS
holders are eligible to use the medical transfer provision. QS holders who own QS in multiple areas often make landings in different parts of the State to fish their QS. Many QS holders live outside of Alaska and travel to the State of Alaska to fish their IFQ.
This Emergency Rule and Justification for Emergency Action This emergency rule implements a temporary IFQ transfer provision for the 2021 IFQ fishing year and corrects a regulation that was inadvertently removed on December 22, 2020.
Specifically, this emergency rule adds regulations at 679.41h3 and p to allow temporary IFQ transfers in 2021.
New paragraph h3 prohibits IFQ
resulting from categories B, C, or D QS
from being transferred separately from its originating QS holder, except as specified under existing temporary transfer provisions and adds 679.41p to the list of exceptions. New paragraph p describes the process for obtaining a temporary IFQ transfer for the 2021 IFQ
fishing year.
This emergency rule also adds 679.41h2 back into the regulations, thus correcting an error that arose from the expiration of the 2020 temporary final rule, which published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2020 85
FR 38100. Paragraph h2 prohibited IFQ resulting from categories B, C, or D
QS from being transferred separately from its originating QS, except as provided for in the temporary transfer provisions, including the 2020
temporary final rule. The temporary final rule was effective for 180 days:
From June 25, 2020, through December 22, 2020. Upon expiration of the temporary final rule, 679.41h2 and p were removed in their entirety, resulting in the inadvertent deletion of the previously effective regulatory text at 50 CFR 679.41h2. This action corrects that inadvertent deletion of the previously effective 679.41h2. With this temporary/emergency rule, new 679.41h2 will become effective upon expiration of this emergency rule see DATES, thereby restoring the previously effective regulatory text.
The temporary IFQ transfer process described at 679.41p is separate and distinct from the hired master and medical transfer provisions previously described, as well as any other IFQ
transfer provisions in existing regulations. Any temporary IFQ transfer under 679.41p will be applicable only during the 2021 IFQ fishing year.
This action allows certain QS holders to transfer their IFQ for the 2021 fishing
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year. This action authorizes only a onetime transfer of IFQ from the QS holder to the IFQ recipient transferee; IFQ
cannot be returned to the QS holder or transferred a second time after a temporary transfer is approved by NMFS. The transferred IFQ may only be fished by the transferee receiving it see Section 3.1 of the Analysis.
QS holders wishing to transfer their IFQ under this emergency rule need to complete an Application for Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota IFQ found on https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska.
A temporary IFQ transfer is valid only for the calendar year in which it is approved. Individuals who hold B, C, or D vessel class QS will be eligible to use this temporary provision. Corporations, partnerships, or other non-individual entities are not eligible to use this temporary IFQ transfer provision.
Although the temporary IFQ transfer provision described in 679.41p is distinct from other IFQ transfer provisions in the regulations, the process for QS holders to apply for a transfer, and the NMFS review and approval process, is similar to those used for other IFQ transfer procedures in 679.41. This emergency rule also removes the requirement for a notary certification and authorizes NMFS to approve an Application for Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota IFQ in the 2021 IFQ
fishing year without a notary certification. Removal of the notary requirement reduces the logistical and administrative burden on IFQ
participants and NMFS staff.
This emergency rule is effective for 180 days from March 30, 2021 through September 27, 2021. However, the 2021
IFQ Fishing season closes on December 7, 2021, and NMFS is soliciting public comment on this emergency rule. As a result, NMFS will consider any comments received as it evaluates whether the effective period of this action should be extended up to an additional 186 days in the event that the Council prepares an action that would address this emergency on a permanent basis consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act section 305c3B. In consultation with the Council, NMFS will continue to monitor conditions in the fisheries, and NMFS will take additional action if recommended and necessary.
Section 305c of the MagnusonStevens Act authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to address an emergency. Under that section, a regional fishery management council may request that the Secretary promulgate emergency rules if it finds an emergency exists. NMFSs Policy
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Guidelines for the Use of 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 renewed October 3, 2018, 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 44421; August 21, 1997.
Under NMFSs 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 allowing transfer flexibility to all IFQ
Program participants for the 2021 IFQ
fishing year meets the three criteria above.
Criterion 1Recent, Unforeseen Events or Recently Discovered Circumstances Government health advisories and travel policies implemented to minimize spread of the COVID19
pandemic remain in place and are likely to continue through the 2021 fishing year. In May 2020, when the Council first requested that the Secretary promulgate an emergency transfer regulation 85 FR 38100, June 25, 2020, the Council did not foresee the extended duration of the virus and subsequent impacts to the fishery, and the need to extend the 2020 temporary transfer emergency rule beyond the end of the 2020 IFQ Program fishing season. At the time that the Council recommended, and NMFS implemented, an emergency rule in 2020, there was a reasonable expectation that a COVID19 vaccine could be developed and then broadly distributed such that additional emergency management measures would not be needed in 2021. Based on
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