[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2619-2621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1204]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 961105310-6374-02; I.D. 102396A]
RIN 0648-AJ31
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies Fishery; Framework Adjustment 17
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement Framework Adjustment
17 and to correct the regulations implementing Amendment 7 to the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Framework 17
restores unused days-at-sea (DAS) to vessels enrolled in the DAS
effort-control call-in system that fished less than one-sixth of their
Amendment 7 DAS allocation during the months of May and June 1996. The
intent of this rule is to provide vessels with their full Amendment 7
allocation of DAS and to correct an inadvertent omission in a previous
rule.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 14, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 7 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan (Amendment 7), its regulatory impact review (RIR) and
the final regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) contained within the
RIR, its final supplemental environmental impact statement, and
Framework Adjustment 17 documents are available upon request from
Christopher B. Kellogg, Acting Executive Director, New England Fishery
Management Council (Council), 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan A. Murphy, NMFS, Fishery Policy
Analyst, 508-281-9252.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Amendment 7 to the FMP (61 FR 27710, May 31,
1996) became effective on July 1, 1996, and implemented reductions in
DAS for vessels already under the effort-control system. During the
developmental stages of Amendment 7, it became clear that the New
England Fishery Management Council (Council) would be unable to submit
the amendment in time for it to be implemented before the May 1 start
of the new fishing year. To address this situation, the Council agreed
to prorate DAS to adjust for the gap between the
[[Page 2620]]
start of the fishing year and the implementation date of the revised
allocations. However, because this had the unintended effect of
assessing a prorated number of DAS, regardless of whether the DAS were
actually used, and because the call-in system is in place to assess
actual DAS used, the Council opted, through Framework 17, to use the
actual method for those vessels subject to the call-in system in May
and June. Further details concerning justification for and development
of Framework Adjustment 17 were provided in the notice of proposed
rulemaking (61 FR 58365, November 14, 1996) and are not repeated here.
This framework restores unused DAS (up to one-sixth of the full-
year allocation) to vessels enrolled in the call-in system in May and
June 1996, and that did not record more than one-sixth of their full-
year allocation. Since these vessels (vessels holding a 1996 Amendment
5 multispecies permit in the Individual, Fleet, or Combination Vessel
categories) had the opportunity to request a change in permit category,
provided that the application was completed and sent to the Regional
Administrator by August 15, 1996, the restoration of DAS will be
calculated based on the permit category held by the vessel on August
16, 1996.
This rule also adds surf clam and ocean quahog dredge gear to the
definition of exempted gear with respect to the NE multispecies fishery
(i.e., gear that is deemed not capable of catching multispecies). This
gear was inadvertently excluded from the definition in the final rule
for Amendment 7, which created an inconsistency with the final
Amendment 7 document.
Comments and Responses
Comment: Associated Fisheries of Maine, Maine Fishermen's Wives
Association, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., Senators Olympia J. Snowe
and William S. Cohen, and one individual submitted written comments in
support of Framework 17. The commenters asserted that the proposed rule
to Amendment 7 did not explain how DAS would be prorated and,
consequently, was interpreted by many to mean that DAS would be
prorated only for those vessels that were not under the call-in system
previous to Amendment 7. Because of this interpretation, one commenter
stated that many vessels reserved their DAS in May and June for periods
of time throughout the year that are traditionally more profitable to
fish. Several others stated that it would create a financial hardship
if their unused DAS were not restored.
Response: With the approval of Framework Adjustment 17, DAS will
automatically be restored to vessels enrolled in the call-in system
that fished less than one-sixth of their Amendment 7 allocation during
the months of May and June 1996.
Classification
In addition to the restoration of unused DAS for which prior notice
and opportunity for public comment was provided, this rule corrects a
provision for which full prior notice and opportunity for comment were
provided during the development and implementation of Amendment 7.
Therefore, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), under
5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), finds that additional prior notice and opportunity
for public comment is unnecessary.
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), both provisions of this rule are not
subject to a delay in effectiveness because they relieve restrictions
on the fishing industry.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration that this rule would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The reasons were published in the notice of proposed rulemaking for
Framework Adjustment 17. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis
was not prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: January 13, 1997.
Charles Karnella,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended
as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 648.2, the definition for ``Exempted gear'' is revised
to read as follows:
Sec. 648.2 Definitions.
* * * * *
Exempted gear, with respect to the NE multispecies fishery, means
gear that is deemed to be not capable of catching NE multispecies and
includes: Pelagic hook and line, pelagic longline, spears, rakes,
diving gear, cast nets, tongs, harpoons, weirs, dipnets, stop nets,
pound nets, pelagic gillnets, pots and traps, purse seines, shrimp
trawls (with a properly configured grate as defined under this part),
surf clam and ocean quahog dredges, and midwater trawls.
* * * * *
3. In Sec. 648.82, paragraphs (b)(1)(i), (b)(2)(i), (b)(5)(i), and
(b)(7)(i) are revised, and paragraph (j) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 648.82 Effort-control program for limited access vessels.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Individual DAS
category shall be allocated 65 percent of its initial 1994 allocation
baseline, as established under Amendment 5 to the NE Multispecies FMP,
multiplied by the proration factor of 0.833 for the 1996 fishing year,
unless a vessel qualifies for a restoration of DAS under paragraph (j)
of this section, and 50 percent of its initial allocation baseline for
the 1997 fishing year and beyond, as calculated under paragraph (d)(1)
of this section.
* * * * *
(2) * * *
(i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Fleet DAS category
shall be allocated 116 DAS (139 DAS multiplied by the proration factor
of 0.833) for the 1996 fishing year, unless a vessel qualifies for a
restoration of DAS under paragraph (j) of this section, and 88 DAS for
the 1997 fishing year and beyond.
* * * * *
(5) * * *
(i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Combination Vessel
category shall be allocated 65 percent of its initial 1994 allocation
baseline, as established under Amendment 5 to the NE Multispecies FMP,
multiplied by the proration factor of 0.833 for the 1996 fishing year,
unless a vessel qualifies for a restoration of DAS under paragraph (j)
of this section, and 50 percent of its initial allocation baseline for
the 1997 fishing year and beyond, as calculated under paragraph (d)(1)
of this section.
* * * * *
(7) * * *
(i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Large Mesh Fleet DAS
category shall be allocated 129 DAS (155 DAS multiplied by the
proration factor of 0.833) for the 1996 fishing year,
[[Page 2621]]
unless a vessel qualifies for a restoration of DAS under paragraph (j)
of this section, and 120 DAS for the 1997 fishing year, and beyond. To
be eligible to fish under the Large Mesh Fleet DAS category, a vessel
while fishing under this category must fish with gillnet gear with a
minimum mesh size of 7-inch (17.78-cm) diamond mesh or trawl gear with
a minimum mesh size of 8-inch (20.32-cm) diamond mesh, as described
under Sec. 648.80(a)(2)(ii), (b)(2)(ii), and (c)(2)(ii).
* * * * *
(j) Restoration of unused DAS. Vessels that held valid 1996
Amendment 5 NE multispecies permits in the Individual, Fleet or
Combination Vessel categories are eligible for restoration of unused
DAS if DAS fished during May and June 1996 was less than one-sixth of
their 1996 Amendment 7 allocation. Restoration of DAS will be based on
the NE multispecies permit category held on August 16, 1996. These
vessels will be automatically credited with DAS equal to the difference
between the proration reduction and their DAS fished during May and
June 1996, as recorded in the NMFS call-in system specified at
Sec. 648.10(c) (or on other verifiable evidence of days spent fishing
for multispecies). If the number of DAS fished during this time period
exceeded the proration reduction amount, those days will not be
subtracted from a vessel's 1996 allocation.
[FR Doc. 97-1204 Filed 1-14-97; 4:13 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
