50 C.F.R. 50 CFR--PART 679
Title 50 - Wildlife and Fisheries
Effective Date(s): January 20, 2008 5. In §679.27, paragraphs (b)(4) and (j) are added to read as follows: * * * * * (b) * * * (4) All species listed in Table 2a to this part for purposes of the GRS program described in paragraph (j) of this section, except for groundfish in prohibited species status at the end of each reporting week. * * * * * (j) Groundfish retention standard—(1) Applicability. The operator of a catcher/processor that is 125 ft (38.1 m) LOA or longer, not listed in §679.4(l)(2)(i), and using trawl gear must comply with the GRS set forth under paragraph (j)(2)(ii) of this section while fishing for or processing groundfish caught from the BSAI from January 1 through December 31 of each year. The owner of a catcher/processor 125 ft (38.1 m) LOA or longer is required to ensure that the operator complies with the GRS program set forth under paragraph (j)(2)(ii) of this section. No part of the GRS program supersedes minimum retention or utilization requirements for IR/IU species found in this section. (2) Percent of groundfish retained calculation. (i) For any fishing year, the percent of groundfish retained by each vessel identified under paragraph (j)(1) of this section would be calculated using the following equations: Substituting the value for GFroundweight into the following equation, GRF% = (GFroundweight/TotalGF)*100 Where: GFroundweight = the total annual round weight equivalent of all retained product weights for each IR/IU groundfish species. PWspecies PRRspecies GFR% = the groundfish retention percentage for a vessel calculated as GFroundweight divided by the total weight of groundfish catch. TotalGF = the total groundfish catch weight as measured by the flow scale measurement, less any non-groundfish, PSC species or groundfish species on prohibited species status under §679.20. (ii) The following table displays annual minimum groundfish retention requirements for each vessel required to comply with the GRS program under paragraph (j)(1) of this section: (3) Monitoring requirements—(i) Observer coverage requirements. In addition to complying with minimum observer coverage requirements at §679.50(c), the owner or operator of a vessel required to comply with the GRS program must comply with observer coverage requirements as described at §§679.50(c)(6) and 679.7(m)(3) at all times the vessel is used to harvest groundfish in the BSAI with trawl gear. (ii) Catch weighing. For each haul, all catch caught by a vessel required to comply with the GRS program must be weighed on a NMFS-approved scale and made available for sampling by a NMFS certified observer at a single location. The owner or operator of a vessel required to comply with the GRS program must ensure that the vessel is in compliance with the scale requirements described at §679.28(b), that each haul is weighed separately, and that no sorting of catch takes place prior to weighing. All weighed catch must be recorded as required at §679.5(a)(7)(iv)(C). (iii) Observer sampling station. The owner or operator of a vessel required to comply with the GRS program must provide an observer sampling station as described at §679.28(d) and the owner of a vessel required to comply with the GRS program must ensure that the vessel operator complies with the observer sampling station requirements described at §679.28(d) at all times the vessel is used to harvest groundfish in the BSAI. In addition to the requirements at §679.28(d)(7)(ii), observers must be able to sample all catch from a single point along the conveyer belt conveying unsorted catch, and when standing where unsorted catch is collected, the observer must be able to see that no catch has been removed between the bin and where unsorted catch is collected. (4) Requirements for vessels that also harvest groundfish outside of the BSAI. The operator of a vessel required to comply with the GRS program must offload or transfer all fish or fish product prior to harvesting fish outside the BSAI, unless the operator of the vessel is in compliance with the recordkeeping and reporting and monitoring requirements described at §679.5(a)(7)(iv)(C) and paragraph (j)(3) of this section at all times the vessel harvests or processes groundfish outside the BSAI. (5) Requirements for vessels receiving deliveries of unsorted catch. The owner or operator of a vessel required to comply with paragraph (j) of this section at any time during a fishing year and also receives deliveries of unsorted catch at any time during a fishing year must comply with paragraph (j)(3) of this section while processing deliveries of unsorted catch.
Amendment from April 06, 2006
50 CFR--PART 679
Amendment(s) published April 6, 2006, in 71 FR 17381
§ 679.27 Improved Retention/Improved Utilization Program.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ GROUNDFISH RETENTION STANDARD------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRS Schedule Annual GRS------------------------------------------------------------------------2008 65%------------------------------------------------------------------------2009 75%------------------------------------------------------------------------2010 80%------------------------------------------------------------------------2011 and each year after 85%------------------------------------------------------------------------
