[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 24, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38430-38431]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18699]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[I.D. 071596E]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 9 to the
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notice to advise that the Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 9 to the
Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Fisheries (FMP) for Secretarial review and is requesting comments
from the public. Amendment 9 would initiate management measures for the
black sea bass fishery.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 12, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Dr. Andrew A. Rosenberg, Regional Director,
NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930-3799. Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on the Black
Sea Bass Fishery.''
Copies of proposed Amendment 9, its Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)
and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis contained within the
RIR, and the Final Environmental Impact Statement are available from
David R. Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE
19904-6790.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy
Analyst, 508-281-9221.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson Act) (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) requires that
each regional fishery management council submit any fishery management
plan or amendment it prepares to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary)
for review and approval or disapproval. The Magnuson Act also requires
that the Secretary, upon receiving the plan or amendment for review,
immediately make a preliminary evaluation of whether the amendment is
sufficient to warrant continued review, and publish a notice
[[Page 38431]]
that the plan or amendment is available for public review and comment.
The Secretary will consider the public comments in determining whether
to approve the plan or amendment.
Amendment 9, if approved, would revise the FMP to institute
management measures for the black sea bass fishery. Such measures would
allow the black sea bass (Centropristis striata) resource to rebuild
over a 7-year period. The black sea bass resource is overfished.
Proposed management measures include: Dealer, charter/party vessel,
and operator permits; moratorium vessel permits for the directed
commercial fishery; a requirement that permitted vessels may sell only
to permitted dealers; mandatory reporting for permitted vessels and
dealers; escape vents on black sea bass pots or traps; degradable
hinges and fasteners in pots or traps; maximum size for rollers used in
roller rig trawl gear; minimum fish sizes for the commercial and
recreational fisheries; minimum codend mesh requirements when
possessing more than a threshold level of black sea bass on board; and
a mechanism to enable the Council to establish special management zones
around artificial reef areas. A framework process would also allow
annual adjustment of the minimum fish size, escape vent size, and mesh
requirements.
In 1998 and beyond, the Council also proposed to implement a
coastwide recreational harvest limit, a state by state commercial quota
to reduce fishing mortality, and a provision to allow for the
respecification of the manner in which the commercial quota is
allocated (e.g. coastwide, rather than state by state).
NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, disapproved the state by state
commercial quota in Amendment 9 before publishing this notice of
availability as authorized under section 304(a)(1)(A) of the Magnuson
Act.
Day 1 of Amendment 9 is July 15, 1996. Proposed regulations to
implement this amendment are scheduled to be published within 15 days
of this date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 18, 1996.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-18699 Filed 7-18-96; 5:03 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
