IB 01-3: NMFS Issues an Emergency Rule to Supersede and Revise Certain Provisions of the AFA

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued an emergency rule to supersede and revise certain provisions of the AFA, according to James W. Balsiger, Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS. This emergency interim rule is effective 12 noon, Alaska local time, January 20, 2001, and implements the following five measures that supersede or revise the management program set out in the AFA:

1. Revised inshore co-op qualification requirements. This action revises the AFA qualification requirements for inshore catcher vessel cooperatives to allow inactive or retired vessels to remain eligible to be members of inshore cooperatives without making qualifying landings each year.

2. Revised inshore co-op allocation formula. This action revises the formula set out in subparagraph 210(b)(1)(B) of the AFA for establishing allocations of pollock to inshore cooperatives. The revised formula uses each vessel's best 2 of 3 years from 1995-1997 to determine inshore co-op allocations, and only uses each AFA vessel's catch history in the denominator to prevent 1995-1997 catch history from non-AFA vessels from inflating the size of the inshore open access sector quota.

3. Revised crab processing caps. This action supersedes the crab processing caps set out in sub-paragraph 211(c)(2)(A) by adding 1998 crab processing history to the 1995-1997 formula set out in the AFA and giving it double-weight.

4. Revised observer coverage for pollock CDQ. This action revises the observer coverage requirements for catcher/processors and motherships participating in the pollock CDQ fishery by eliminating the existing requirement that the second observer on such vessels be a CDQ observer. The purpose of this change is to establish a single observer standard for catcher/processors and motherships in the both the CDQ and AFA pollock fisheries.

5. Pollock allocations and sideboard amounts. This action authorizes the publication of sideboard amounts for AFA catcher/processors and catcher vessels and the management of such sideboards through directed fishing closures. This is necessary to implement the changes described above and to implement AFA-required sideboard protections for other fisheries. Actual allocations and sideboards will be published as part of the 2001 groundfish total allowable catch specifications.

The full text of this emergency interim rule will be available on the NMFS Alaska Region website upon publication. This information bulletin provides notice of a regulatory change. Do not rely upon it to guide you in complying with the new regulatory change.