Limited Access Management of Federal Fisheries In and Off of Alaska; Determinations and Appeals

This interim final rule amends the regulations implementing the determinations and appeals procedures for limited access management of Federal fisheries in and off of Alaska and amends regulations implementing the individual fishing quota (IFQ) limited access program with respect to establishment of quota share (QS) pools for each IFQ regulatory area. The changes made to the determinations and appeals procedures reduce the current two-stage appeals procedure to a single- step process, and reduce the length of time periods for certain appeals-related actions. The changes made to the establishment of QS pools allow for the addition of catch history that is in dispute and being appealed. These changes are necessary to avoid excessive delays in deciding appeals and to allow the timely issuance of IFQ resulting from disputed catch history that was successfully appealed. The intended effect of this action is to shorten the appeals process while providing reasonable time for applicants to file, and to provide IFQ resulting from disputed catch history to persons who may have an appeal successfully resolved after the IFQ calculation date.