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Active sampling unit means a portion of the groundfish fleet in which an observer coverage plan is being applied.

Address of record. Address of Record means the business address of a person, partnership, or corporation used by NMFS to provide notice of actions.

Allocation. (See § 600.10 ).

Base permit, with respect to a limited entry permit stacking program, means a limited entry permit described at § 660.333(a) registered for use with a vessel that meets the permit length endorsement requirements appropriate to that vessel, as described at § 660.334(c).

Biennial fishing period means a 24-month period beginning at 0001 local time on January 1 and ending at 2400 local time on December 31 of the subsequent year.

B MSY means the biomass level that produces maximum sustainable yield (MSY), as stated in the PCGFMP at Section 4.2.

Catch, take, harvest. (See § 600.10 ).

Change in partnership or corporation means the addition of a new shareholder or partner to the corporate or partnership membership. This definition of a “change” will apply to any person added to the corporate or partnership membership since November 1, 2000, including any family member of an existing shareholder or partner. A change in membership is not considered to have occurred if a member dies or becomes legally incapacitated and a trustee is appointed to act on his behalf, nor if the ownership of shares among existing members changes, nor if a member leaves the corporation or partnership and is not replaced. Changes in the ownership of publicly held stock will not be deemed changes in ownership of the corporation.

Closure or closed means, when referring to closure of a fishery or a closed fishery, that taking and retaining, possessing, or landing the particular species or species group covered by the fishing closure is prohibited. Unless otherwise announced in the Federal Register or authorized in this subpart, offloading must begin before the closure time.

Commercial fishing means:

(1) Fishing by a person who possesses a commercial fishing license or is required by law to possess such license issued by one of the states or the Federal Government as a prerequisite to taking, landing and/or sale; or

Commercial harvest guideline or commercial quota means the harvest guideline or quota after subtracting any allocation for the Pacific Coast treaty Indian tribes, projected research catch, recreational fisheries set-asides or harvest guidelines, deductions for fishing mortality in non-groundfish fisheries, as necessary, and set-asides for compensation fishing under § 660.350.Limited entry and open access allocations are derived from the commercial harvest guideline or quota.

Conservation area(s) means either a Groundfish Conservation Area (GCA), an Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area (EFHCA), or both.

(1) Groundfish Conservation Area or GCA means a geographic area defined by coordinates expressed in degrees latitude and longitude, wherein fishing by a particular gear type or types may be prohibited. GCAs are created and enforced for the purpose of contributing to the rebuilding of overfished West Coast groundfish species. Regulations at § 660.390 define coordinates for these polygonal GCAs: Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Areas, Cowcod Conservation Areas, waters encircling the Farallon Islands, and waters encircling the Cordell Banks. GCAs also include Rockfish Conservation Areas or RCAs, which are areas closed to fishing by particular gear types, bounded by lines approximating particular depth contours. RCA boundaries may and do change seasonally according to the different conservation needs of the different overfished species. Regulations at §§ 660.390 through 660.394 define RCA boundary lines with latitude/longitude coordinates; regulations at Tables 3 5 of Part 660 set RCA seasonal boundaries. Fishing prohibitions associated with GCAs are in addition to those associated with EFH Conservation Areas.

(2) Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area or EFHCA means a geographic area defined by coordinates expressed in degrees latitude and longitude, wherein fishing by a particular gear type or types may be prohibited. EFHCAs are created and enforced for the purpose of contributing to the protection of West Coast groundfish essential fish habitat. Regulations at §§ 660.396 - .399 define EFHCA boundary lines with latitude/longitude coordinates. Fishing prohibitions associated with EFHCAs, which are found at § 660.306, are in addition to those associated with GCAs.

Continuous transiting or transit through means that a fishing vessel crosses a groundfish conservation area or EFH conservation area on a constant heading, along a continuous straight line course, while making way by means of a source of power at all times, other than drifting by means of the prevailing water current or weather conditions.

Corporation is a legal, business entity, including incorporated (INC) and limited liability corporations (LLC).

Council means the Pacific Fishery Management Council, including its Groundfish Management Team, Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP), and any other committee established by the Council.

Direct financial interest means any source of income to or capital investment or other interest held by an individual, partnership, or corporation or an individual's spouse, immediate family member or parent that could be influenced by performance or non-performance of observer duties.

Electronic fish ticket means a software program or data files meeting data export specifications approved by NMFS that is used to send landing data to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. Electronic fish tickets are used to collect information similar to the information required in state fish receiving tickets or landing receipts, but do not replace or change any state requirements.

Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) means a data collection tool that uses a software operating system connected to an assortment of electronic components, including video recorders, to create a collection of data on vessel activities.

Essential Fish Habitat or EFH. (See § 600.10 ).

Fishery (See § 600.10 ).

Fishery management area means the EEZ off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California between 3 and 200 nm offshore, and bounded on the north by the Provisional International Boundary between the U.S. and Canada, and bounded on the south by the International Boundary between the U.S. and Mexico. The inner boundary of the fishery management area is a line coterminous with the seaward boundaries of the States of Washington, Oregon, and California (the “3-mile limit”). The outer boundary of the fishery management area is a line drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nm from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured, or is a provisional or permanent international boundary between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico. All groundfish possessed between 0-200 nm offshore or landed in Washington, Oregon, or California are presumed to have been taken and retained from the EEZ, unless otherwise demonstrated by the person in possession of those fish.

Fishing. (See § 600.10 ).

Fishing gear includes the following types of gear and equipment:

(1) Bottom contact gear. Fishing gear designed or modified to make contact with the bottom. This includes, but is not limited to, beam trawl, bottom trawl, dredge, fixed gear, set net, demersal seine, dinglebar gear, and other gear (including experimental gear) designed or modified to make contact with the bottom. Gear used to harvest bottom dwelling organisms (e.g. by hand, rakes, and knives) are also considered bottom contact gear for purposes of this subpart.

(2) Demersal seine. A net designed to encircle fish on the seabed. The Demersal seine is characterized by having its net bounded by lead-weighted ropes that are not encircled with bobbins or rollers. Demersal seine gear is fished without the use of steel cables or otter boards (trawl doors). Scottish and Danish Seines are demersal seines. Purse seines, as defined at § 600.10, are not demersal seines. Demersal seine gear is included in the definition of bottom trawl gear in (11)(i) of this subsection.

(3) Dredge gear. Dredge gear, with respect to the U.S. West Coast EEZ, refers to a gear consisting of a metal frame attached to a holding bag constructed of metal rings or mesh. As the metal frame is dragged upon or above the seabed, fish are pushed up and over the frame, then into the mouth of the holding bag.

(i) Gillnet. (See § 600.10 ).

(ii) Set net. A stationary, buoyed, and anchored gillnet or trammel net.

(10) Trap or pot. These terms are used as interchangeable synonyms. See § 600.10 definition of “trap”.

(11) Trawl gear means a cone or funnel-shaped net that is towed through the water, and can include a pair trawl that is towed simultaneously by two boats. Groundfish trawl is trawl gear that is used under the authority of a valid limited entry permit issued under this subpart endorsed for trawl gear. It does not include any type of trawl gear listed as non-groundfish trawl gear. Non-groundfish trawl gear is any trawl gear other than the Pacific Coast groundfish trawl gear that is authorized for use with a valid groundfish limited entry permit. Non-groundfish trawl gear includes pink shrimp, ridgeback prawn, California halibut south of Pt. Arena, and sea cucumbers south of Pt. Arena.

(i) Bottom trawl. A trawl in which the otter boards or the footrope of the net are in contact with the seabed. It includes demersal seine gear, and pair trawls fished on the bottom. Any trawl not meeting the requirements for a midwater trawl in § 660.381 is a bottom trawl.

(A) Beam trawl gear. A type of trawl gear in which a beam is used to hold the trawl open during fishing. Otter boards or doors are not used.

(C) Small footrope trawl gear. Small footrope trawl gear is bottom trawl gear with a footrope diameter of 8 inches (20 cm) or smaller, including any rollers, bobbins, or other material encircling or tied along the length of the footrope. Selective flatfish trawl gear that meets the gear component requirements in § 660.381 is a type of small footrope trawl gear.

(ii) Midwater (pelagic or off-bottom) trawl. A trawl in which the otter boards and footrope of the net remain above the seabed. It includes pair trawls if fished in midwater. A midwater trawl has no rollers or bobbins on any part of the net or its component wires, ropes, and chains.For additional midwater trawl gear requirements and restrictions, see § 660.381(b).

(iii) Trawl gear components.

(C) Codend. (See § 600.10 ).

(D) Double-bar mesh. Webbing comprised of two lengths of twine tied into a single knot.

Fishing vessel. (See § 600.10 ).

Fishing year is the year beginning at 0001 local time on January 1 and ending at 2400 local time on December 31 of the same year. There are two fishing years in each biennial fishing period.

Grandfathered or first generation, when referring to a limited entry sablefish-endorsed permit owner, means those permit owners who owned a sablefish-endorsed limited entry permit prior to November 1, 2000, and are, therefore, exempt from certain requirements of the sablefish permit stacking program within the parameters of the regulations at §§ 660.334 through 660.341 and § 660.372.

Groundfish means species managed by the PCGFMP, specifically:

(1) Sharks: leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata; soupfin shark, Galeorhinus zyopterus; spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias.

Legal fish means fish legally taken and retained, possessed, or landed in accordance with the provisions of 50 CFR part 660, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, any document issued under part 660, and any other regulation promulgated or permit issued under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Length overall (LOA) (with respect to a vessel) means the length overall set forth in the Certificate of Documentation (CG-1270) issued by the USCG for a documented vessel, or in a registration certificate issued by a state or the USCG for an undocumented vessel; for vessels that do not have the LOA stated in an official document, the LOA is the LOA as determined by the USCG or by a marine surveyor in accordance with the USCG method for measuring LOA.

Limited entry fishery means the fishery composed of vessels registered for use with limited entry permits.

Limited entry gear means longline, trap (or pot), or groundfish trawl gear used under the authority of a valid limited entry permit affixed with an endorsement for that gear.

Limited entry permit means the Federal permit required to participate in the limited entry fishery, and includes any gear, size, or species endorsements affixed to the permit.

Maximum Sustainable Yield or MSY. (See § 600.310 ).

Mobile transceiver unit means a vessel monitoring system or VMS device, as set forth at § 660.312, installed on board a vessel that is used for vessel monitoring and transmitting the vessel's position as required by this subpart.

North-South management area means the management areas defined in paragraph (1) of this definition, or defined and bounded by one or more or the commonly used geographic coordinates set out in paragraph (2) of this definition for the purposes of implementing different management measures in separate geographic areas of the U.S. West Coast.

(1) Management areas— (i) Vancouver. The northeastern boundary is that part of a line connecting the light on Tatoosh Island, WA, with the light on Bonilla Point on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (at 48°35.73′ N. lat., 124°43.00′ W. long.) south of the International Boundary between the U.S. and Canada (at 48°29.62′ N. lat., 124°43.55′ W. long.), and north of the point where that line intersects with the boundary of the U.S. territorial sea.

Open access fishery means the fishery composed of commercial vessels using open access gear fished pursuant to the harvest guidelines, quotas, and other management measures governing the harvest of open access allocations (detailed in § 660.320 and Tables 1-2 of this subpart) or governing the fishing activities of open access vessels (detailed in § 660.383 and Table 5 of this subpart.) Any commercial vessel that is not registered to a limited entry permit and which takes and retains, possesses or lands groundfish is a participant in the open access groundfish fishery.

Open access gear means all types of fishing gear except:

(1) Longline or trap (or pot) gear fished by a vessel that has a limited entry permit affixed with a gear endorsement for that gear.

Operator. (See § 600.10 ).

Overage means the amount of fish harvested by a vessel in excess of the applicable trip limit.

Owner of a vessel or vessel owner, as used in this subpart, means a person identified as the current owner in the Certificate of Documentation (CG-1270) issued by the USCG for a documented vessel, or in a registration certificate issued by a state or the USCG for an undocumented vessel.

Ownership interest, with respect to a sablefish endorsed permit, means participation in ownership of a corporation, partnership, or other entity that owns a sablefish endorsed permit. Participation in ownership does not mean owning stock in a publicly owned corporation.

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP) means the Fishery Management Plan for the Washington, Oregon, and California Groundfish Fishery developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and approved by the Secretary on January 4, 1982, and as it may be subsequently amended.

Pacific whiting shoreside or shore-based fishery means Pacific whiting shoreside vessels and Pacific whiting shoreside first receivers.

Pacific whiting shoreside first receivers means persons who receive, purchase, or take custody, control, or possession of Pacific whiting onshore directly from a Pacific whiting shoreside vessel.

Pacific whiting shoreside vessel means any vessel that fishes using midwater trawl gear to take, retain, possess and land 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) or more of Pacific whiting per fishing trip from the Pacific whiting shore-based sector allocation for delivery to a Pacific whiting shoreside first receiver during the primary season.

Partnership is two or more individuals, partnerships, or corporations, or combinations thereof, who have ownership interest in a permit, including married couples and legally recognized trusts and partnerships, such as limited partnerships (LP), general partnerships (GP), and limited liability partnerships (LLP).

Permit holder means a vessel owner as identified on the United States Coast Guard form 1270 or state motor vehicle licensing document.