[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 221 (Thursday, November 14, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58365-58367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29172]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 961105310-6310-01; 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: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations to implement Framework Adjustment 17
to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This
framework would implement a measure to restore unused days-at-sea (DAS)
to vessels recorded under the DAS effort-control program as having
fished less than one-sixth of their Amendment 7 allocation during the
months of May and June 1996. The intended effect of this rule is to
provide vessels with their full Amendment 7 allocation of DAS.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 25, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed rule should be sent to Dr. Andrew
A. Rosenberg, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office,
1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the
envelope: ``Comments on Multispecies Framework Adjustment 17.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan A. Murphy, NMFS, Fishery Policy
Analyst, 508-281-9252.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Amendment 5 (59 FR 9872, March 1, 1994) to
the FMP established an effort-reduction program based primarily on
reductions in DAS allocated to fishing vessels, with exceptions for
certain classes of vessels. Under Amendment 5, the annual allocation of
DAS was based on a multispecies fishing year that started on May 1.
Amendment 7 (61 FR 27710, May 31, 1996), which became effective on July
1, 1996, eliminated most exceptions to the DAS program and accelerated
the reductions in DAS for vessels already under the effort-control
program. During the developmental stages of Amendment 7, when it became
clear that the New England Fishery Management Council (Council) would
be unable to submit the amendment in time for it to be
[[Page 58366]]
implemented before the start of the new fishing year, the Council
agreed to prorate DAS to adjust for the gap between the start of the
fishing year and the implementation date of the revised allocations.
The preamble of the proposed rule for Amendment 7 (61 FR 8540),
published on March 5, 1996, stated that ``DAS will be prorated to
account for a full fishing year beginning May 1, 1996, through April
30, 1997.''
Comment from industry, received after the close of the proposed
rule comment period, reflected that some members misconstrued how DAS
prorations would be applied to different vessel groups upon
implementation of Amendment 7. Vessel owners fishing under the DAS
program in May and June believed that proration of DAS was meant to
apply specifically to vessels that were exempt from the DAS program
prior to Amendment 7 and that Amendment 5 call-in system vessels were
to have their DAS in the months of May and June subtracted from their
total Amendment 7 allocation. Because of this confusion and the
resulting consequence that several vessels did not fish their full
allotment of prorated DAS in the months of May and June, DAS vessel
owners appealed to the Council to provide the full-year allocation
pending verification of their lack of fishing activity.
In response to this concern, the Council submitted this proposed
framework, which would restore unused DAS (up to one-sixth of the full-
year allocation) to vessels enrolled in the call-in system in May and
June 1996, that did not record more than one-sixth of their full-year
allocation. In its submission, the Council specifically excluded
vessels that were exempt from the DAS call-in requirement prior to
Amendment 7. The Council asserted that since these vessels were not
monitored before July 1, the vessel owners had no reason to believe
that days not fished in May and June would be credited to their
allocation. The Council argued that it would place an unacceptable
burden on previously exempt vessel owners to demonstrate, and NMFS to
review, a verification of groundfish activity during this 2-month
period.
The analysis shows that 698 vessels held Amendment 5 DAS permits on
June 30, 1996 (the last day that the Amendment 5 regulations were in
effect), and were allocated a total of 95,715 DAS for the period May 1,
1996, through April 30, 1997 (Amendment 7). Of this number of vessels,
77 percent fished less than the prorated allocation of DAS (from May 1
through June 30) and 23 percent fished greater than or equal to their
prorated allocation. For vessels fishing under DAS prior to
implementation of Amendment 7, the result of approving this framework
and restoring DAS is that the total number of DAS allocated under
Amendment 7 in its first year of implementation will increase by 1.5
percent or less. This difference is negligible and would have no effect
on the analysis conducted for Amendment 7. In fact, this difference is
expected to dissipate during the remainder of the fishing year as the
smaller vessels become constrained by winter weather.
Vessels holding a 1996 Amendment 5 northeast multispecies permit in
the Individual, Fleet, or Combination Vessel categories were
automatically assigned to categories and sent a permit upon
implementation of Amendment 7. With this new permit, vessels were also
sent an Amendment 7 application so that, if they choose to, they could
request a change in permit category, provided that the application was
completed and sent to the Regional Administrator by August 15, 1996.
Because of this ability to change permit categories, the restoration of
DAS will be calculated based on the permit category held by the vessel
on August 16, 1996.
Classification
This proposed 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 proposed rule, if adopted,
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities as follows:
The proposed rule would restore unused days-at-sea (DAS) for the
months of May and June 1996, to fishing vessels that were enrolled
in the DAS program under Amendment 5 to the FMP that did not record
more than one-sixth of their 1996 fishing year allotment of DAS
under Amendment 7.
Restoring DAS to the approximately 537 vessels that did not use
one-sixth of their allotment under Amendment 7 in May and June 1996
would reestablish the original 1996 fishing year allocation for
these vessels and was taken into account in analyses supporting
Amendment 7 itself. Therefore, no new analysis is needed. The
proposed action is unlikely to materially reduce or increase annual
revenues beyond the analysis contained in Amendment 7 or increase
production and compliance costs, and would not force small entities
to cease business operations.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: November 7, 1996.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be 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. 648.82, 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) * * *
[[Page 58367]]
(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, 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 1/6th 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. 96-29172 Filed 11-8-96; 12:51 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
