(a) Applicability.
(1) The owner of any vessel used to fish for lobster in Permit Area 1 must have a limited access permit issued for such vessel.
(2) The owner of any vessel used to fish for lobster in Permit Area 2 must have a permit issued for such a vessel.
(3) The owner of any vessel used to fish for deepwater shrimp in Crustacean Permit Areas 1 or 2 must have a permit issued for that vessel.
(4) Harvest of Hawaii crustacean MUS or ECS within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument is subject to the requirements of 50 CFR part 404.
(b) General requirements. General requirements governing application information, issuance, fees, expiration, replacement, transfer, alteration, display, sanctions, and appeals for permits issued under this section, as applicable, are contained in § 665.13.
(c) Application. An application for a permit required under this section will be submitted to PIRO as described in § 665.13. If the application for a limited access permit is submitted on behalf of a partnership or corporation, the application must be accompanied by a supplementary information sheet obtained from PIRO and contain the names and mailing addresses of all partners or shareholders and their respective percentage of ownership in the partnership or corporation.
(d) Lobster Limited Access Permit Requirements.
(1) A lobster limited access permit is valid for fishing only in Crustacean Permit Area 1.
(2) Only one permit will be assigned to any vessel.
(3) No vessel owner will have permits for a single vessel to harvest lobsters in Permit Areas 1 and 2 at the same time.
(4) A maximum of 15 limited access permits can be valid at any time.
(e) Transfer or sale of limited access permits.
(1) Permits may be transferred or sold, but no one individual, partnership, or corporation will be allowed to hold a whole or partial interest in more than one permit, except that an owner who qualifies initially for more than one permit may maintain those permits, but may not obtain additional permits. Layering of partnerships or corporations shall not insulate a permit holder from this requirement.
(2) If 50 percent or more of the ownership of a limited access permit is passed to persons other than those listed on the permit application, PIRO must be notified of the change in writing and provided copies of the appropriate documents confirming the changes within 30 days.
(3) Upon the transfer or sale of a limited access permit, a new application must be submitted by the new permit owner according to the requirements of § 665.13. The transferred permit is not valid until this process is completed.
(f) Replacement of a vessel covered by a limited access permit. A limited access permit issued under this section may, without limitation as to frequency, be transferred by the permit holder to a replacement vessel owned by that person.
(g) Issuance of limited access permits to future applicants.
(1) The Regional Administrator may issue limited access permits under this section when fewer than 15 vessel owners hold active permits.
(2) When the Regional Administrator has determined that limited access permits may be issued to new persons, a notice shall be placed in the Federal Register, and other means will be used to notify prospective applicants of the opportunity to obtain permits under the limited access management program.
(3) A period of 90 days will be provided after publication of the Federal Register notice for submission of new applications for a limited access permit.
(4) Limited access permits issued under this paragraph (g) will be issued first to applicants qualifying under paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section. If the number of limited access permits available is greater than the number of applicants that qualify under paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, then limited access permits will be issued to applicants under paragraph (g)(4)(ii) of this section.
(i) First priority to receive limited access permits under this paragraph (g) goes to owners of vessels that were used to land lobster from Permit Area 1 during the period 1983 through 1990, and who were excluded from the fishery by implementation of the limited access system. If there are insufficient permits for all such applicants, the new permits shall be issued by the Regional Administrator through a lottery.
(ii) Second priority to receive limited access permits under paragraph (g) goes to owners with the most points, based upon a point system. If two or more owners have the same number of points and there are insufficient permits for all such owners, the Regional Administrator shall issue the permits through a lottery. Under the point system, limited access permits will be issued, in descending order, beginning with owners who have the most points and proceeding to owners who have the least points, based on the following:
(A) Three points shall be assigned for each calendar year after August 8, 1985, that the applicant was the operator of a vessel that was used to land lobster from Permit Area 1.
(B) Two points shall be assigned for each calendar year or partial year after August 8, 1985, that the applicant was the owner, operator, or crew member of a vessel engaged in either commercial fishing in Permit Area 2 for lobster, or fishing in Permit Area 1 for fish other than lobster with an intention to sell all or part of the catch.
(C) One point shall be assigned for each calendar year or partial year after August 8, 1985, that the applicant was the owner, operator, or crew member of a vessel engaged in any other commercial fishing in the EEZ surrounding Hawaii.
(5) A holder of a new limited access permit must own at least a 50 percent share in the vessel that the permit would cover.
[75 FR 2205, Jan. 14, 2010, as amended at 84 FR 2773, Feb. 8, 2019]