[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 242 (Wednesday, December 17, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66049-66050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32865]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 971208290-7290-01; I.D. 112097C]
RIN 0648-AK51
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Northern Anchovy Fishery; Control Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of a
control date.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is developing
an amendment to the Northern Anchovy Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that
may place small coastal pelagic species under Federal management along
with northern anchovy. Proposed management options include limiting
effort by controlling the number and/or capacity of vessels harvesting
coastal pelagic resources off Washington, Oregon, and California. This
notice is intended to notify fishermen that anyone entering the coastal
pelagics fishery after November 5, 1997, may not be eligible to
continue participating in the fishery under the new amendment.
DATES: Comments must be submitted by January 16, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Pacific Fishery Management Council,
2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James J. Morgan, (562) 980-4036,
or Mr. Svein Fougner, Acting Chief, Fisheries Management Division,
(562) 980-4034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The current draft of the amendment to the
FMP would add the following species to the management unit: Pacific
mackerel
[[Page 66050]]
(Scomber japonicus), jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus), Pacific
sardine (Sardinops sagax), market squid (Loligo opalescen), Pacific
saury (Cololabis saira), and Pacific bonito (Sarda chiliensis). One of
the management options to be considered in the amendment is controlling
fishing effort by limiting the number and/or capacity of vessels
harvesting coastal pelagics to levels that are economically efficient.
If too many vessels enter a fishery, the profit for each fisherman
dwindles, management and enforcement becomes more difficult and costly,
the private investment needed by each fisherman to maintain an adequate
share of the harvest rises, and the pressure to raise harvest levels
increases. To keep harvesting capacity in line with the resources
available, various limited access systems will be analyzed.
The first step in evaluating a system by which the number of
participants can be limited is to identify the current participants.
Although the decision has not been made on whether vessels, vessel
operators, or owners of vessels will be considered ``current
participants,'' the Council, at its meeting in Portland, OR, on
November 5, 1997, adopted the control date of November 5, 1997, for
defining participants in the fishery. Therefore, a fisherman would have
to have landed coastal pelagic species on or before November 5, 1997,
to be considered a current participant in this fishery. Fishermen are
put on notice that anyone entering the coastal pelagics fishery after
this date might not be issued a permit to continue participating in the
fishery if a limited access option is adopted for coastal pelagic
resources. This decision by the Council rescinds the earlier control
date for this fishery of November 13, 1991, which was published in the
Federal Register on January 16, 1992 (57 FR 1899).
The control date does not commit the Council or NMFS to any
particular management regime or criteria for entry into the coastal
pelagics fishery. Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in
this fishery, regardless of their entry date or intensity of
participation before or after the control date. The Council may
subsequently choose a different control date or it may choose a
management regime that does not make use of such a date. Other
qualifying criteria, such as documentation of commercial landings and
sales, may be necessary for entry.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 10, 1997.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-32865 Filed 12-16-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
