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CFR

660.140—Shorebased IFQ Program.

(a) General. The Shorebased IFQ Program requirements in § 660.140 will be effective beginning January 1, 2011, except for paragraphs (d)(4), (d)(6), and (d)(8) of this section, which are effective immediately. The Shorebased IFQ Program applies to qualified participants in the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery and includes a system of transferable QS for most groundfish species or species groups, IBQ for Pacific halibut, and trip limits or set-asides for the remaining groundfish species or species groups. The IFQ Program is subject to area restrictions (GCAs, RCAs, and EFHCAs) listed at §§ 660.70 through 660.79, subpart C. The Shorebased IFQ Program may be restricted or closed as a result of projected overages within the Shorebased IFQ Program, the MS Coop Program, or the C/P Coop Program. As determined necessary by the Regional Administrator, area restrictions, season closures, or other measures will be used to prevent the trawl sector in aggregate or the individual trawl sectors (Shorebased IFQ, MS Coop, or C/P Coop) from exceeding an OY, or formal allocation specified in the PCGFMP or regulation at § 660.55, subpart C, or §§ 660.140, 660.150, or 660.160, subpart D.
IFQ Species
Roundfish
Lingcod.
Pacific cod.
Pacific whiting.
Sablefish north of 36° N. lat.
Sablefish south of 36° N. lat.
Flatfish
Dover sole.
English sole.
Petrale sole.
Arrowtooth flounder.
Starry flounder.
Other Flatfish stock complex.
Pacific halibut (IBQ) north of 40°10′.
Rockfish
Pacific ocean perch.
Widow rockfish.
Canary rockfish.
Chilipepper rockfish.
Bocaccio.
Splitnose rockfish.
Yellowtail rockfish.
Shortspine thornyhead north of 34°27′ N. lat.
Shortspine thornyhead south of 34°27′ N. lat.
Longspine thornyhead north of 34°27′ N. lat.
Cowcod.
Darkblotched.
Yelloweye.
Minor Rockfish North slope species complex.
Minor Rockfish North shelf species complex.
Minor Rockfish South slope species complex.
Minor Rockfish South shelf species complex.
(2) IFQ program allocations. Allocations for the Shorebased IFQ Program are determined for IFQ species as follows:
(iii) For IFQ species listed in the trawl/nontrawl allocation table, specified at § 660.55(c), subpart C, allocations are determined by applying the trawl column percent to the fishery harvest guideline minus any set-asides for the mothership and C/P sectors for that species and minus allocations for darkblotched rockfish, POP, and widow rockfish.
Species category QS control limit(percent)
Non-whiting Groundfish Species 2.7
Lingcod—coastwide 2.5
Pacific Cod 12.0
Pacific whiting (shoreside) 10.0
Sablefish:
N. of 36° (Monterey north) 3.0
S. of 36° (Conception area) 10.0
PACIFIC OCEAN PERCH 4.0
WIDOW ROCKFISH 5.1
CANARY ROCKFISH 4.4
Chilipepper Rockfish 10.0
BOCACCIO 13.2
Splitnose Rockfish 10.0
Yellowtail Rockfish 5.0
Shortspine Thornyhead:
N. of 34°27′ 6.0
S. of 34°27′ 6.0
Longspine Thornyhead:
N. of 34°27′ 6.0
COWCOD 17.7
DARKBLOTCHED 4.5
YELLOWEYE 5.7
Code of Federal Regulations 97
Minor Rockfish North:
Shelf Species 5.0
Slope Species 5.0
Minor Rockfish South:
Shelf Species 9.0
Slope Species 6.0
Dover sole 2.6
English Sole 5.0
Petrale Sole 3.0
Arrowtooth Flounder 10.0
Starry Flounder 10.0
Other Flatfish 10.0
Pacific Halibut (IBQ) N. of 40°10′ 5.4
(ii) Ownership—individual and collective rule. The QS or IBQ that counts toward a person's accumulation limit will include:
(v) Divestiture. Accumulation limits will be calculated by first calculating the aggregate nonwhiting QS limit and then the individual species QS or IBQ control limits. For QS permit owners (including any person who has ownership interest in the owner named on the permit) that are found to exceed the accumulation limits during the initial issuance of QS permits, an adjustment period will be provided after which they will have to completely divest of QS or IBQ in excess of the accumulation limits. QS or IBQ will be issued for amounts in excess of accumulation limits only for owners of limited entry permits transferred to them by November 8, 2008, if such transfers of ownership have been registered with NMFS by November 30, 2008. The owner of any permit transferred after November 8, 2008, or if transferred earlier, not registered with NMFS by November 30, 2008, will only be eligible to receive an initial allocation for that permit of those QS or IBQ that are within the accumulation limits; any QS or IBQ in excess of the accumulation limits will be redistributed to the remainder of the initial recipients of QS or IBQ in proportion to each recipient's initial allocation of QS or IBQ for each species. Any person that qualifies for an initial allocation of QS or IBQ in excess of the accumulation limits will be allowed to receive that allocation, but must divest themselves of the excess QS or IBQ during years three and four of the IFQ program. Holders of QS or IBQ in excess of the control limits may receive and use the QP or IBQ pounds associated with that excess, up to the time their divestiture is completed. At the end of year 4 of the IFQ program, any QS or IBQ held by a person (including any person who has ownership interest in the owner named on the permit) in excess of the accumulation limits will be revoked and redistributed to the remainder of the of the QS or IBQ owners in proportion to the QS or IBQ holdings in year 5. No compensation will be due for any revoked shares.
(1) Any activity that takes place shoreside; and that involves: Cutting groundfish into smaller portions; or freezing, cooking, smoking, drying groundfish; or packaging that groundfish for resale into 100 pound units or smaller for sale or distribution into a wholesale or retail market.
(2) The purchase and redistribution in to a wholesale or retail market of live groundfish from a harvesting vessel.
(1) For limited entry trawl permit owners, a permit will be assigned catch history or relative history based on the landing history of the vessel(s) associated with the permit at the time the landings were made.
(2) The relevant PacFIN dataset includes species compositions based on port sampled data and applied to data at the vessel level.
(3) Only landings of IFQ species which are caught in the exclusive economic zone or adjacent state waters off Washington, Oregon and California will be used for calculation of allocation formulas. For the purpose of allocation of IFQ species for which the QS or IBQ will be subdivided by area, catch areas have been assigned to landings of IFQ species reported on state landing receipts based on port of landing.
(4) History from limited entry permits that have been combined with a permit that may qualify for a C/P endorsement and which has shorebased permit history will not be included in the preliminary QS and IBQ allocation formula, other than in the determination of fleet history used in the calculation of relative history for permits that do not have a C/P endorsement.
(5) History of illegal landings and landings made under non-whiting EFPs that are in excess of the cumulative limits in place for the non-EFP fishery will not count toward the allocation of QS or IBQ.
(6) The limited entry permit's landings history includes the landings history of permits that have been previously combined with that permit.
(7) If two or more limited entry trawl permits have been simultaneously registered to the same vessel, NMFS will split the landing history evenly between all such limited entry trawl-endorsed permits during the time they were simultaneously registered to the vessel.
(8) Unless otherwise noted, the calculation for QS or IBQ allocation under paragraph (d)(8) of this section will be based on state landing receipts (fish tickets) as recorded in the relevant PacFIN dataset on July 1, 2010.
(9) For limited entry trawl permits, landings under provisional “A” permits that did not become “A” permits and “B” permits will not count toward the allocation of QS or IBQ, other than in the determination of fleet history used in the calculation of relative history for permits that do not have a C/P endorsement.
(10) For limited entry trawl permits, NMFS will calculate initial issuance of QS separately based on whiting trips and non-whiting trips, and will weigh each calculation according to initial issuance allocations between whiting trips and non-whiting trips, which are one-time allocations necessary for the formulas used during the initial issuance of QS to create a single Shorebased IFQ Program. The initial issuance allocations between whiting and non-whiting trips for canary rockfish, bocaccio, cowcod, yelloweye rockfish, minor shelf rockfish N. of 40°10′, minor shelf rockfish S. of 40°10′, and minor slope rockfish S. of 40°10′ will be determined through the biennial specifications process. The initial issuance allocations for the remaining IFQ species are as follows:
Species Initial issuance allocation percentage
Non-whiting Whiting
Lingcod 99.7% 0.3%
Pacific Cod 99.9% 0.1%
Pacific Whiting 0.1% 99.9%
Sablefish N. of 36° N. lat. 98.2% 1.8%
Sablefish S. of 36° N. lat. 100.0% 0.0%
PACIFIC OCEAN PERCH remaining 17% or 30 mt, whichever is greater, to shorebased at-sea whiting.
If under rebuilding, 52% to shorebased at-sea whiting.
WIDOW remaining If stock rebuilt, 10% or 500 mt, whichever is greater, to shorebased at-sea whiting.
Chilipepper S. of 40°10′ N. lat. 100.0% 0.0%
Splitnose S. of 40°10′ N. lat. 100.0% 0.0%
Yellowtail N. of 40°10′ N. lat. remaining 300 mt.
Shortspine N. of 34°27′ N. lat. 99.9% 0.1%
Shortspine S. of 34°27′ N. lat. 100.0% 0.0%
Longspine N. of 34°27′ N. lat. 100.0% 0.0%
DARKBLOTCHED remaining 9% or 25 mt, whichever is greater, to shorebased at-sea whiting.
Minor Slope Rockfish N. of 40°10′ N. lat 98.6% 1.4%
Dover Sole 100.0% 0.0%
English Sole 99.9% 0.1%
Petrale Sole 100.0% 0.0%
Arrowtooth Flounder 100.0% 0.0%
Starry Flounder 100.0% 0.0%
Other Flatfish 99.9% 0.1%
(B) Preliminary QS allocation for nonwhiting trips. NMFS will calculate the non-whiting preliminary QS allocation differently for different species groups, Groups 1 through 3.
(1) Allocation formula species groups. For the purposes of preliminary QS allocation, IFQ species will be grouped as follows:
(i) Group 1 includes lingcod, Pacific cod, Pacific whiting, sablefish north of 36° N. lat., sablefish south of 36° N. lat., Dover sole, English sole, petrale sole, arrowtooth flounder, starry flounder, other flatfish stock complex, chilipepper rockfish, splitnose rockfish, yellowtail rockfish, shortspine thornyhead north of 34°27′ N. lat., shortspine thornyhead south of 34°27′ N. lat., longspine thornyhead north of 34°27′ N. lat., minor rockfish north slope species complex, minor rockfish south slope species complex, minor rockfish north shelf species complex, and minor rockfish south shelf species complex.
(ii) Group 2 includes bocaccio, cowcod, darkblotched rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, widow rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish.
(iii) Group 3 includes canary rockfish.
(2) Group 1 species: The preliminary QS allocation process indicated in paragraph (d)(8)(iii)(A) of this section for Group 1 species follows a two-step process, one to allocate a pool of QS equally among all eligible limited entry permits and the other to allocate the remainder of the preliminary QS based on permit history. Through these two processes, preliminary QS totaling 100 percent for each Group 1 species will be allocated. In later steps this amount will be adjusted and reduced as indicated in paragraph (d)(8)(iii)(C) and (D), to determine the QS allocation.
(i) QS to be allocated equally. The pool of QS for equal allocation will be determined using the landings history from Federal limited entry groundfish permits that were retired through the Federal buyback program (i.e., buyback permit) (70 FR 45695, August 8, 2005). The QS pool associated with the buyback permits will be the buyback permit history as a percent of the total fleet history for the allocation period. The calculation will be based on total absolute pounds with no dropped years and no other adjustments. The QS pool will be divided equally among qualifying limited entry permits for all QS species/species groups and areas in Group 1.
(ii) QS to be allocated based on each permit's history. The pool for QS allocation based on limited entry trawl permit history will be the QS remaining after subtracting out the QS allocated equally. This pool will be allocated to each qualifying limited entry trawl permit based on the permit's relative history from 1994 through 2003. For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will calculate a set of relative histories using the following methodology. First, NMFS will sum the permit's landings by each year for each Group 1 species/species group and area subdivision. Second, NMFS will divide each permit's annual sum for a particular species/species group and area subdivision by the shoreside limited entry trawl fleet's annual sum for the same species/species group and area subdivision. NMFS will then calculate a total relative history for each permit by species/species group and area subdivision by adding all relative histories for the permit together and subtracting the three years with the lowest relative history for the permit. The result for each permit by species/species group and areas subdivision will be divided by the aggregate sum of all total relative histories of all qualifying limited entry trawl permits for that species/species group and area subdivision. NMFS will then multiply the result from this calculation by the amount of QS in the pool to be allocated based on each permit's history.
(3) Group 2 species: The preliminary QS allocation step indicated in paragraph (d)(8)(iii)(A) of this section will be calculated for each limited entry trawl permit using a formula based on QS allocations for each limited entry trawl permit for 11 target species, areas of distribution of fishing effort as determined from 2003-2006 target species catch data from the PacFIN Coastwide Trawl Logbook Database, average bycatch ratios for each area as derived from West Coast Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP) data from 2003 through 2006, and the non-whiting initial issuance allocation of the limited entry trawl allocation amounts for 2011 for each of the 11 target species. These data are used in a series of sequential steps to estimate the allocation of Group 2 species to each limited entry trawl permit. Paragraphs (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(iii) to (vi) of this section estimate the permit's total 2003-2006 target species by area. Paragraphs (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(vii) to (xii) of this section project Group 2 species bycatch amounts using 2003-2006 WCGOP observer ratios and the initial issuance allocation applied to the 2011 limited entry trawl allocation. Paragraphs (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(xiv) to (xvii) of this section convert these amounts into QS. As with Group 1 species, preliminary QS totaling 100 percent for each Group 2 species unit will be allocated and the amount of the allocations will be adjusted and reduced as indicated in paragraph (d)(8)(iii)(C) and (D) of this section to determine the QS allocation.
(i) The 11 target species are arrowtooth flounder, starry flounder, other flatfish, Dover sole, English sole, petrale sole, minor slope rockfish, shortspine thornyheads, longspine thornyheads, sablefish, and Pacific cod.
(ii) The 8 areas of distribution of fishing effort are defined latitudinally and by depth. The latitudinal areas are (a) north of 47°40 N. lat.; (b) between 47°40 N. lat. and 43°55′ N. lat.; (c) 43°55′ N. lat. and 40°10′ N. lat.; and (d) south of 40°10′ N. lat. Each latitudinal area is further divided by depth into areas shoreward and seaward of the trawl Rockfish Conservation Area as defined at § 660.130(e)(4) of this subpart.
(iii) For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will review the permit logbook data for that permit and sum target species catch recorded for the years 2003-2006, resulting in total target species catch in each area for each permit for the years 2003 through 2006 for all 11 target species in aggregate.
(iv) For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will also sum target species catch by area into total coastwide target species catch for each permit for the years 2003 through 2006 for all 11 target species in aggregate. For practicability, seaward or shoreward of the RCA as identified in the logbook data is defined as being deeper than or shallower than 115 fathoms, respectively.
(v) For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will divide logbook aggregate target species catch in each area (paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(iii) of this section) by the permit's total coastwide target species catch (paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(iv) of this section) to create a set of 8 area catch ratios for each permit. (Note: The sum of all area catch ratios equals 1 for each permit).
(vi) For limited entry trawl permits where the vessel registered to the permit did not submit logbooks showing any catch of the 11 target species for any of the years 2003 through 2006, NMFS will use the following formula to calculate area target catch ratios: (a) NMFS will sum by area all limited entry trawl permits' total logbook area target catches from paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(iii) of this section, (b) NMFS will sum coastwide all limited entry trawl permits' total logbook target catches across all areas from paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(iv) of this section, and (c) NMFS will divide these sums (i.e., a/b) to create average permit logbook area target catch ratios.
(vii) NMFS will calculate the 2011 non-whiting short term allocation amount for each of the 11 target species by multiplying the limited entry trawl allocation amounts for 2011 for each by the corresponding initial issuance allocation percentage for the non-whiting sector given in paragraph (d)(8)(iii)(A)(10) of this section or determined through the biennial specifications process, as applicable.
(viii) For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will obtain the percentage of the limited entry trawl permit initial QS allocation for each of the 11 target species resulting from paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(2) of this section.
(ix) NMFS will calculate each limited entry trawl permit's projected non-whiting sector quota pounds for 2011 by multiplying the 2011 non-whiting sector initial issuance allocation amounts for each of the 11 target species from paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(vii) of this section by each permit's target species QS allocation percentage from paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(viii) of this section.
(x) For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will sum the projected quota pounds for the 11 target species from paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(ix) of this section to get a total projected weight of all 11 target species for the limited entry trawl permit.
(xi) For each limited entry trawl permit, NMFS will estimate the permit's total incidental catch of Group 2 species by area by multiplying the projected 2011 total weight of all 11 target species by the applicable area catch ratio for each area as calculated in either paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(v) of this section (permits with logbook data) or paragraph (d)(8)(iv)(B)(3 )(vi) of this section (permits without logbook data).
(xii) NMFS will apply WCGOP average bycatch ratios for each Group 2 species (observed Group 2 species catch/total target species catch) by area. The WCGOP average bycatch ratios are as follows:
Area Shoreward Seaward
Bocaccio
N. of 47°40′ N. lat.
43°55′ N. lat. to 47°40′ N. lat.
40°10′ N. lat. to 43°55′ N. lat.
S. of 40°10′ N. lat. 0.019013759 0.001794203
Cowcod
N. of 47°40′ N. lat.
43°55′ N. lat. to 47°40′ N. lat.
40°10′ N. lat. to 43°55′ N. lat.
S. of 40°10′ N. lat. 0.001285088 0.000050510
Darkblotched
N. of 47°40′ N. lat. 0.001560461 0.009950330
43°55′ N. lat. to 47°40′ N. lat. 0.002238054 0.018835786
40°10′ N. lat. to 43°55′ N. lat. 0.002184788 0.015025697
S. of 40°10′ N. lat. 0.000006951 0.004783988
Pacific ocean perch
N. of 47°40′ N. lat. 0.001069954 0.019848047
43°55′ N. lat. to 47°40′ N. lat. 0.000110802 0.015831815
40°10′ N. lat. to 43°55′ N. lat. 0.000148715 0.001367645
S. of 40°10′ N. lat.
Widow
N. of 47°40′ N. lat. 0.000132332 0.000065291
43°55′ N. lat. to 47°40′ N. lat. 0.000387346 0.000755163
40°10′ N. lat. to 43°55′ N. lat. 0.000175128 0.000008118
S. of 40°10′ N. lat. 0.001049485 0.000676828
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