[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 80 (Monday, April 27, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20565-20566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11015]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 285 and 644
[I.D. 042098D]
Atlantic Tuna Fisheries; Atlantic Billfishes; Public Hearings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of additional public hearings.
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SUMMARY: On April 9, 1998, NMFS published a document announcing a
series of public hearings to receive comments from fishery participants
and other members of the public regarding proposed Atlantic bluefin
tuna (ABT) quota specifications and General category effort controls,
tournament reporting for Atlantic billfishes, and an increase in
minimum size limits for Atlantic blue marlin and Atlantic white marlin.
NMFS announces two additional public hearings.
DATES: The additional hearings are scheduled as follows:
1. Monday, May 4, 1998, 7 to 9 p.m., Riverhead, NY.
2. Monday, May 4, 1998, 7 to 9 p.m., Toms River, NJ.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Rebecca Lent, Chief,
Highly Migratory Species Management Division, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS, 1315 East-West
[[Page 20566]]
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282.
The hearing locations are:
1. Riverhead Town Hall, 200 Howell Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901,
(516) 727-3200
2. Quality Inn, 815 Route 37 West, Toms River, NJ 08755, (732) 341-
2400.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Murray-Brown at (978) 281-9260,
Sarah McLaughlin at (301) 713-2347, or Buck Sutter at (813) 570-5447.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The actions that are the subject of the
hearings are necessary to improve management and monitoring of the U.S.
Atlantic tuna and billfish fisheries in order to implement 1996 and
1997 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
recommendations and to enhance collection of data in order to improve
assessment of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the
fisheries.
Complete descriptions of the proposed ABT specifications and the
interim billfish measures are contained in the proposed rule for ABT
published April 2, 1998 (63 FR 16220), and the interim rule for
billfish published March 24, 1998 (63 FR 14030), respectively, and are
not repeated here. Copies of these actions may be obtained by writing
(see ADDRESSES) or calling one of the contact persons (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
The purpose of this announcement is to alert the interested public
of the hearings and provide for public participation.
Special Accommodations
These hearings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Rebecca Lent at least 5 days prior
to the hearing date (see ADDRESSES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 21, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-11015 Filed 4-23-98; 10:26 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
