[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11411-11412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6071]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 648
[I.D. 022897B]
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Public hearings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will
hold public hearings to allow for input on Amendment 10 to the Fishery
Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass
Fisheries (FMP).
DATES: Written comments on Amendment 10 will be accepted until April
25, 1997. The public hearings are scheduled to be held from March 25 to
April 10, 1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and
times.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to David R. Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300
South New Street, Dover, DE 19904.
The hearings will be held in Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and North
Carolina. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of the hearings.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David R. Keifer, Executive Director,
302-674-2331.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Amendments 2 through 9 to the FMP, as adopted by the Council and
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and approved by NMFS,
established procedures for setting annual catch specifications,
including recreational harvest limits and commercial quotas, for summer
flounder, scup, and black sea bass, established minimum fish sizes,
required that commercial vessels and party and charter boats obtain
permits, established overfishing definitions for the three species,
established limited entry of additional vessels into the fisheries for
the three species, implemented minimum mesh net regulations in the
three fisheries and developed a dealer and vessel reporting system.
The preferred management measures for Amendment 10 adopted by the
Council for hearings are:
1. Modify the commercial minimum mesh regulations such that the
minimum mesh provisions (currently 5.5-inch (13.10 cm) diamond mesh)
apply to the entire net;
2. Continue the moratorium on entry of additional commercial
vessels into the summer flounder fishery;
3. Remove the requirement that a vessel with a moratorium permit
must land summer flounder at some point during a 52-week period to
retain the moratorium permit;
4. Require that states document all summer flounder commercial
landings in their state that are not otherwise
[[Page 11412]]
included in the Federal monitoring of permit holders;
5. Implement a provision such that any state could be granted de
minimus status if commercial summer flounder landings during the last
preceding calendar year were less than 0.1 percent of the total
coastwide quota;
6. Prohibit transfer of summer flounder at sea; and
7. Establish a special state permit for party/charter vessels to
allow the possession of summer flounder parts smaller than the minimum
size.
In addition, proposed Amendment 10 will reconsider the vessel
replacement criteria and commercial quota system implemented by
Amendment 2.
Public Hearings
All hearings will begin at 7 p.m., except the New York hearings,
which will begin at 7:30 p.m. The dates and locations of the hearings
are scheduled as follows:
1. Tuesday, March 25, 1997--Dunes Manor Hotel, 28th Street and the
Ocean, Ocean City, MD.
2. Monday, April 7, 1997--North Carolina State Aquarium, Airport
Road, Manteo, NC.
3. Monday, April 7, 1997--Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 101
Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA.
4. Monday, April 7, 1997--Marine and Academic Center, Kingsborough
Community College, Manhattan Beach, NY.
5. Tuesday, April 8, 1997--Cornell Coop Extension Office, 246
Griffing Avenue, Riverhead, NY.
6. Tuesday, April 8, 1997--Holiday Inn, Routes 1 and 138, S.
Kingston, RI.
7. Tuesday, April 8, 1997--Joslyn Hall, Carteret Community College,
3505 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC.
8. Wednesday, April 9, 1997--Cape May Extension Office, Dennisville
Road, Cape May Courthouse, NJ.
9. Wednesday, April 9, 1997--Quality Inn Lake Wright, 6280
Northampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA.
10. Wednesday, April 9, 1997--Holiday Inn, I-95 and Thames Road,
New London, CT.
11. Thursday, April 10, 1997--Holiday Inn, 290 State Highway, 37
East, Toms River, NJ.
The hearings will be tape recorded with the tapes filed as the
official transcript of the hearings.
These hearings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Joanna Davis at the Council (see
ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to the hearing date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 5, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-6071 Filed 3-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
