applicable regulatory area contrary to any field order issued under this paragraph is prohibited from the effective date of such field order except that fishing for sablefish with longline gear is not prohibited until the effective date of a field order prohibiting longline fishing for sablefish in that fishing area.

(c) Apportionment of reserves and initial DAH—(1) Apportionment of reserves. (i) In accordance with paragraph (c)(4) of this section and as soon as practicable after April 1, June 1, and August 1, and on such other dates as he determines necessary, the Secretary, after consultation with the Council, shall reapportion to TALFF, part or all of the reserves specified in Table 1.

(ii) As soon as practicable after the first day of the following months, and on such other dates as he determines necessary, the Secretary may apportion to DAH, in accordance with paragraph (c)(3) of this section, any amounts of any reserve that he determines to be needed to supplement DAH: April, June, and August.

(2) Apportionment of surplus DAH to TALFF. In accordance with paragraph (c)(4) of this section and as soon as practicable after April 1, June 1, and August 1, and on such other dates as he determines necessary, the Secretary, after consultation with the Council shall apportion to TALFF, any part of the DAH amounts that he determines will not be harvested by U.S. fishermen during the remainder of the year.

(3) Allocation of increases or decreases in DAH among DAP and JVP. The Secretary shall allocate any increases or decreases in DAH amounts resulting from apportionments under paragraphs (c)(1)(i) and (c)(2) of this section among the DAP and JVP components of DAH.

(4) Standards and procedure for apportionment-(i) General. The Secretary shall apportion to TALFF under paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section only those amounts which he determines will not be harvested by vessels of the United States during the remainder of the fishing year. The amount of reserve which the Regional Director determines will be harvested

by vessels of the United States may, in the discretion of the Secretary, either be apportioned to the estimate of domestic annual harvest (DAH), or retained in the reserve as eligible for later apportionment under pargraph (c) of this section.

(ii) Factors. In determining whether or not amounts proposed to be apportioned under paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section will be harvested by vessels of the United States during the remainder of the fishing year, the Regional Director shall consider the following factors, although he shall not be limited to these factors:

(A) Reported United States catch and effort by species and area compared to previously projected United States harvesting capacity;

(B) Projected United States catch and effort by species and area for the remainder of the fishing year;

(C) Amounts of fish, particularly United States harvested fish, already purchased or processed by United States fish processors during the fishing year, compared to previously projected processing capacity of United States fish processors;

(D) Projected processing capacity, and utilization of that capacity for the processing of United States harvested fish, by United States fish processors for the remainder of the fishing year;

(E) Amounts of United States harvested fish already received or processed by foreign fishing vessels, compared to previously projected levels of such receipt or processing; and

(F) The need to maintain orderly fisheries despite any misspecifications of by-catch species amounts in mixed species fisheries.

(iii) Allocation of increases and decreases in DAH between DAP and JVP. The Secretary shall allocate any increases or decreases in DAH amounts resulting from apportionments under paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section between DAP and JVP.

(iv) Public comment. (A) Comments may be submitted to the Regional Director concerning:

(1) Whether, and the extent to which, vessels of the United States will harvest reserve or DAH amounts during the remainder of the fishing year; and

(2) Whether, and the extent to which, United States harvested groundfish can or will be processed by United States fish processors or received at sea by foreign fishing vessels.

(3) Comments should be addressed to Director, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 1668, Juneau, Alaska 99802, and must be received by the Regional Director no later than five (5) days before the relevant date specified in paragraph (c)(1) or (c)(2) of this section. When the Secretary determines that apportionment is required on dates other than those specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, he shall publish a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER on the proposed apportionment which will state the period during which comments may be submitted. If the Secretary finds it necessary to apportion additional amounts without affording a prior opportunity for public comment in order to prevent the premature closure of a fishery, public comments will be invited for a period of fifteen (15) days after the effective date of the apportionment. The Secretary shall consider all timely comments in deciding whether to make a proposed apportionment or to modify an apportionment that has previously been made, and will publish responses to those comments in the FEDERAL REGISTER as soon as it is practicable.

(B) The Secretary shall consider any timely comments submitted in accordance with this paragraph in determining whether, and to what extent, vessels of the United States will harvest reserve or DAH amounts during the remainder of the fishing year, and whether any part of such amounts will be allocated to TALFF under paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section.

(C) The Regional Director shall compile, in aggregate form, the most recent available reports on (1) level of catch and effort by vessels of the United States fishing for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska; and (2) amounts of United States harvested groundfish taken in the Gulf of Alaska and processed by United States fish processors or delivered at sea to foreign fishing vessels. These data shall be available for public inspection during business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday

Friday) at the National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Regional Office, Federal Building, Room 453, 709 West Ninth Street, Juneau, Alaska 99802, during the last 25 days of each comment period.

(v) Procedure. As soon as practicable after each of the dates specified in, and each additional date selected under paragraph (c)(1) or (c)(2) of this section, the Secretary shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER:

(A) Any reserve amounts to be apportioned to TALFF or DAH;

(B) Any DAH amounts to be apportioned to TALFF;

(C) The distribution oo÷amounts apportioned to or from DAH among DAP and JVP;

(D) The reasons for any apportionments and their distribution; and

(E) Responses to any comments received.

(d) Prohibited species. (1) Prohibited species, for the purpose of this part, means any species of fish caught while fishing for groundfish, the retention of which is prohibited by other applicable law, including regulations implementing any fishery management plan for that species.

(i) Any catch of halibut by fishing vessels regulated by this part is catch of a prohibited species, unless retention is authorized by the regulations of the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

(ii) Any catch of Tanner crab (C. bairdi or C. opilio) by fishing vessels regulated by this part is catch of a prohibited species as a result of regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan for Tanner crab of Alaska (see 50 CFR Part 671).

(iii) Any catch of salmon by fishing vessels regulated by this part is catch of a prohibited species as a result of regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan for High Seas Salmon off the Coast of Alaska, east of 175° 00′ East longitude (see 50 CFR Part 674).

(2) Each vessel shall sort its catch as soon as possible after retrieval of the catch and, after allowing for sampling by an observer (if any), shall return any catch of prohibited species or parts thereof to the sea immediately

with a minimum of injury regardless of its condition.

(3) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any prohibited species found onboard a fishing vessel regulated by this part was caught and retained in violation of this part.

(4) In any regulatory area where the OY in Table 1 of paragraph (a) for any species is "0" (zero), any catch of that species by a vessel regulated by this part in that fishing area shall be considered catch of a “prohibited species" and shall be treated in accordance with this paragraph.

(e) Halibut. (1) If, during any year, the Regional Director determines that the catch of halibut for that year by U.S. vessels delivering their catch to foreign vessels (JVP vessels) or U.S. vessels delivering their catch to U.S. fish processors (DAP vessels) will reach the applicable prohibited species catch (PSC) limit for halibut established under paragraph (e)(2) of this section, he will publish a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER prohibiting fishing with trawl gear other than off-bottom trawl gear for the rest of the year by the vessels and in the area to which the PSC limit applies, subject to paragraph (e)(2)(iv) of this section.

(2)(i) As soon as practicable after October 1 of each year the Secretary, after consultation with the Council, will publish a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER Specifying the proposed halibut PSC limits for JVP vessels and DAP vessels. Each halibut PSC may be apportioned among the regulatory areas and districts of the Gulf of Alaska. Public comments on the proposed halibut PSC limits will be accepted by the Secretary for 30 days after the notice is published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. The Secretary will consider all timely comments in determining, after consultation with the Council, the final halibut PSC limits for the next year. A notice of these final halibut PSC limits will be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER as soon as practicable after December 15 and will also be made available to the public by the Regional Director through other suitable means.

(ii) The Secretary will base the annual halibut PSC limits upon the following types of information:

(A) Estimated halibut bycatch in prior years;

(B) Expected changes in groundfish catch;

(C) Expected changes in groundcatch biomass;

(D) Current estimates of halibut biomass and stock condition;

(E) Potential impacts of expected fishing for groundfish on halibut stocks and U.S. halibut fisheries; (F) The methods available for and costs of reducing halibut bycatches in groundfish fisheries; and

(G) Other biological and socioeconomic information that affects the consistency of halibut PSC limits with the objectives of this part.

(iii) The Secretary may, by notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER, change the halibut PSC limits during the year for which they were specified, based on new information of the types set forth in paragaph (e)(2)(ii) of this section.

(iv) When the JVP or DAP vessels to which a halibut PSC limit applies have caught an amount of halibut equal to that PSC, the Regional Director may, by notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER, allow some or all of those vessels to continue to fish for groundfish using bottom-trawl gear under specified conditions, subject to the other provisions of this part. In authorizing and conditioning such continued fishing with bottom-trawl gear, the Regional Director will take into account the following considerations, and issue relevant findings:

(A) The risk of biological harm to halibut stocks and of socioeconomic harm to authorized halibut users posed by continued bottom trawling by these vessels;

(B) The extent to which these vessels have avoided incidental halibut catches up to that point in the year;

(C) The confidence of the Regional Director in the accuracy of the estimates of incidental halibut catches by these vessels up to that point in the year;

(D) Where observer coverage of these vessels is sufficient to assure adherence to the prescribed conditions and to alert the Regional Director to increase in their incidental halibut catches; and

(E) The enforcement record of owners and operators of these vessels, and the confidence of the Regional Director that adherence to the prescribed conditions can be assured in light of available enforcement re

sources.

[45 FR 73487, Nov. 5, 1980, as amended at 48 FR 43050, Sept. 21, 1983; 50 FR 43201, 43203, Oct. 24, 1985; 51 FR 958, Jan. 9, 1986]

EFFECTIVE DATE NOTES:

1. At 51 FR 19207, May 28, 1986, an emergency interim rule amended Table 1 appearing in paragraph (a) of § 672.20 and added

paragraph (a)(4), effective from May 22, 1986, until August 20, 1986. At 51 FR 30218, Aug. 25, 1986, the effective date was extended through November 18, 1986.

2. At 51 FR 20662, June 6, 1986, an emergency interim rule amended § 672.20 by suspending paragraph (b) from June 3, 1986, until September 2, 1986, and adding a new paragraph (f), effective from June 3, 1986, until September 2, 1986. At 51 FR 30663, Aug. 28, 1986, the effective date was extended through November 30, 1986.

For the convenience of the user, the emergency interim rules are set forth below.

§ 672.20 Optimum yield. (a) *