[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-3832]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: February 22, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 940229-4029; I.D. 120893A]
Atlantic Shark Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of control date for entry into the Atlantic shark
fisheries.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that anyone entering any Atlantic shark
fishery after February 22, 1994 (control date), may not be assured of
future access to or an allocation of the shark resource in the Atlantic
Ocean under the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Sharks (FMP). This
notice is intended to promote awareness of potential eligibility
criteria for access to the Atlantic shark fisheries and to discourage
new entries into the fisheries based on economic speculation while the
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) contemplates whether and how access
to the Atlantic shark resources should be controlled.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the control date established herein should be
directed to: Richard H. Schaefer, Director, Office of Fisheries
Conservation and Management (F/CM), National Marine Fisheries Service,
1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: C. Michael Bailey, 301-713-2347, FAX
301-713-2299, Kevin Foster, 508-281-9260 or Michael E. Justen, 813-893-
3161.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic shark fisheries are defined and
managed under regulations at 50 CFR part 678 under the authority of the
Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act). The
Magnuson Act Amendments of 1990, Pub. L. 101-627, transferred
management authority over the Atlantic shark fisheries to the Secretary
as of November 28, 1990.
One of the concerns of the Atlantic shark industry, and the
Secretary, is that current participants in the fisheries who will bear
the brunt of the management restrictions on the fisheries, which are
necessary for stock rebuilding, may not be the ones to whom future
benefits accrue. To address these concerns, and to avoid speculative
entry into a fishery that is overfished and may be overcapitalized, the
Secretary is establishing a control date of February 22, 1994, for
possible limited entry. The date selected is the date of publication.
Vessels that have not entered the shark fishery prior to this date may
not be allowed entry if a limited entry program, based on any criteria
(such as individual catch levels or gear type used) that is developed.
Also, NMFS advises that vessels already in the fishery may not meet
eligibility criteria when and if these criteria are established.
For the purposes of this notice, NMFS has not developed specific
criteria to define entry into a shark fishery. Entry into the fishery
may mean either purchase of a shark vessel or fishery permit,
investment in the construction or modification of a vessel or gear for
the purpose of fishing for Atlantic sharks (directly or incidentally),
the documented landing of a specified quantity of Atlantic sharks, or a
specified number of Atlantic shark landings. The Secretary, after full
public process, may adopt one or more of these definitions of entry
into the shark fishery at the time a limited access regime is proposed,
but may choose other options as well.
Speculative entry into a fishery often is responsible for a rapid
increase in fishing effort in fisheries already fully- or over-
developed. Those seeking possible windfall gain from a potential
management change can exacerbate the original problems. To help
distinguish bona fide and established Atlantic shark fishermen from
speculative entrants into the fishery, a control date may be set before
beginning discussions and planning of limited access regimes. As a
result, fishermen are notified that entering an Atlantic shark fishery
after that date will not necessarily assure them of future access to
the fishery resource on grounds of previous participation.
This establishment of a control date does not commit the Secretary
to any particular management regime or criterion for entry into
Atlantic shark fisheries. Fishermen are not guaranteed future
participation in the Atlantic shark fisheries regardless of their date
of entry or intensity of participation in the fishery before or after
the control date. The Secretary may subsequently choose a different
control date, or he may choose a management regime that does not make
use of such a date. The Secretary is free to apply other qualifying
criteria for fishery entry. The Secretary may give varying
considerations to fishermen in the fisheries before and after the
control date. Finally, the Secretary may choose to take no further
action to control entry or access to the fisheries.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 15, 1994.
Nancy Foster,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-3832 Filed 2-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
