[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 9]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR679.31]

[Page 454-455]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
                   DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED)
 
PART 679_FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA--Table of 
 
      Subpart C_Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program
 
Sec.  679.31  CDQ reserves.

    Portions of the CDQ and PSQ reserves for each subarea or district 
may be allocated for the exclusive use of CDQ groups in accordance with 
CDPs approved by the Governor in consultation with the Council and 
approved by NMFS. NMFS will allocate no more than 33 percent of each CDQ 
reserve to any one group with an approved CDP.
    (a) Pollock CDQ reserve--(1) Bering Sea. In the annual harvest 
specifications required by Sec.  679.20(c), 10 percent of the Bering Sea 
subarea pollock TAC will be allocated to a CDQ reserve.
    (2) Aleutian Islands Subarea and Bogoslof District. In the annual 
harvest specifications required by Sec.  679.20(c), 10 percent of the 
Aleutian Islands subarea and Bogoslof District pollock TAC will be 
allocated to a CDQ reserve unless the Aleutian Islands subarea and/or 
Bogoslof District is closed to directed fishing for pollock by 
regulation. If the Aleutian Islands subarea and/or Bogoslof District is 
closed to directed fishing for pollock by regulation, then no pollock 
CDQ reserve will be established for those areas and incidental harvest 
of pollock by CDQ groups will accrue against the incidental catch 
allowance for pollock established under Sec.  679.20(a)(5)(i)(A)(1).
    (b) Halibut CDQ reserve. (1) NMFS will annually withhold from IFQ 
allocation the proportions of the halibut catch limit that are specified 
in paragraph (b) of this section for use as a CDQ reserve.
    (2) Portions of the CDQ for each specified IPHC regulatory area may 
be allocated for the exclusive use of an eligible Western Alaska 
community or group of communities in accordance with a CDP approved by 
the Governor in consultation with the Council and approved by NMFS.
    (3) The proportions of the halibut catch limit annually withheld for 
the halibut CDQ program, exclusive of issued QS, and the eligible 
communities for which they shall be made available are as follows for 
each IPHC regulatory area (see Figure 15 to this part):
    (i) Area 4B. In IPHC regulatory area 4B, 20 percent of the annual 
halibut quota shall be made available to eligible communities physically 
located in, or proximate to, this regulatory area.
    (ii) Area 4C. In IPHC regulatory area 4C, 50 percent of the halibut 
quota

[[Page 455]]

shall be made available to eligible communities physically located in 
IPHC regulatory area 4C.
    (iii) Area 4D. In IPHC regulatory area 4D, 30 percent of the annual 
halibut quota shall be made available to eligible communities located 
in, or proximate to, IPHC regulatory areas 4D and 4E.
    (iv) Area 4E. In IPHC regulatory area 4E, 100 percent of the halibut 
quota shall be made available to eligible communities located in, or 
proximate to, IPHC regulatory area 4E. A fishing trip limit of 10,000 lb 
(4.54 mt) applies to halibut CDQ harvested in IPHC regulatory area 4E 
through September 1.
    (4) For the purposes of this section, ``proximate to'' an IPHC 
regulatory area means within 10 nm from the point where the boundary of 
the IPHC regulatory area intersects land.
    (c) Groundfish CDQ reserves. (See Sec.  679.20(b)(1)(iii))
    (d) Crab CDQ reserves. Crab CDQ reserves for crab species governed 
by the Crab Rationalization Program are specified at Sec.  680.40 
(a)(1). For Norton Sound red king crab, 7.5 percent of the guideline 
harvest level specified by the State of Alaska is allocated to the crab 
CDQ reserve.
    (e) PSQ reserve. (See Sec.  679.21(e)(1)(i) and (e)(2)(ii)).
    (f) Management of the Groundfish CDQ Reserves--(1) Groundfish CDQ 
reserves allocated among CDQ groups. (i) Except as limited by paragraph 
(f)(2) of this section, the groundfish CDQ reserves are apportioned 
among CDQ groups using percentage allocations approved by NMFS under 
Sec.  679.30(d).
    (ii) If the groundfish harvest specifications required by Sec.  
679.20(c) change the species comprising a TAC category or change a TAC 
category by combining or splitting management areas, then the CDQ 
percentage allocations approved by NMFS for the original TAC category 
will apply to any new categories.
    (iii) A CDQ group is prohibited by Sec.  679.7(d)(5) from exceeding 
an annual groundfish CDQ amount allocated to it.
    (iv) NMFS may specify limitations or prohibitions to prevent 
overfishing of any BSAI groundfish species, including measures specific 
to groundfish CDQ species allocated among CDQ groups (see Sec.  
679.20(d)(3)).
    (2) Groundfish CDQ reserves not allocated among CDQ groups. (i) The 
``other species'' CDQ reserve, or individual species that comprise the 
``other species'' CDQ reserve, will not be allocated among CDQ groups.
    (ii) Groundfish CDQ reserves not allocated among CDQ groups will be 
managed at the CDQ reserve level under general limitations at Sec.  
679.20(d).
    (g) Non-specific CDQ reserve (applicable through December 31, 2002). 
Annually, NMFS will apportion 50 percent of the arrowtooth flounder CDQ 
and 15 percent of the ``other species'' CDQ for each CDQ group to a non-
specific CDQ reserve. A CDQ group's non-specific CDQ reserve must be for 
the exclusive use of that CDQ group. A release from the non-specific 
reserve to the CDQ group's arrowtooth flounder or ``other species'' CDQ 
is a technical amendment to a community development plan as described in 
Sec.  679.30(g)(5). The technical amendment must be approved before 
harvests relying on CDQ transferred from the non-specific CDQ reserve 
may be conducted.

[63 FR 8361, Feb. 19, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 30407, June 4, 1998; 64 
FR 3882, Jan. 26, 1999; 64 FR 20214, Apr. 26, 1999; 64 FR 61982, Nov. 
15, 1999; 66 FR 13678, Mar. 7, 2001; 67 FR 13293, Mar. 22, 2002; 67 FR 
79733, Dec. 30, 2002; 68 FR 9905, Mar. 3, 2003; 68 FR 69977, Dec. 16, 
2003; 70 FR 10238, Mar. 2, 2005]