[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 166 (Monday, August 26, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43725-43727]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21553]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 960520141-6224-03; I.D. 073096D]
RIN: 0648-AH05
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 8 to the
Summer Flounder and Scup Fishery Management Plan; Resubmission of
Disapproved Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed rule to implement three provisions
of Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Summer
Flounder and Scup Fisheries that were initially disapproved, but that
have been revised and resubmitted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (Council). These measures would: Establish criteria
under which vessels under construction or being rerigged for the scup
fishery on January 26, 1993, could qualify for a moratorium permit,
define scup pots and traps, and require the consideration of
recreational landings in the process of setting annual recreational
harvest limits. The intent of Amendment 8 is to reduce fishing
mortality and allow the stock to rebuild.
DATES: Public comments must be received on or before September 16,
1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposed rule should be sent to Dr. Andrew
A. Rosenberg, Director, Northeast Regional Office, NMFS, One Blackburn
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope,
``Comments on the Resubmitted Portion of the Summer Flounder and Scup
Plan.''
Comments regarding burden-hour estimates for collection-of-
information requirements contained in this proposed rule should be sent
to the Director, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Director), at the
address above and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, D.C. 20502
(Attention: NOAA Desk Officer).
Copies of the resubmitted portion of Amendment 8 and other
supporting documents are available upon request from David R. Keifer,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115,
Federal Building, 300 South New Street, Dover, DE 19901.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy
Analyst, 508-281-9221.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Council submitted Amendment 8 to the FMP on April 23, 1996.
NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, disapproved six measures
proposed in Amendment 8 upon preliminary evaluation of the amendment as
authorized under section 304(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Magnuson Fishery
Management and Conservation Act (Magnuson Act). The measures, which
were found to be inconsistent with the national standards and other
applicable law, would have: (1) Conferred moratorium permit eligibility
upon vessels that were rerigging on January 26, 1993, and landed scup
prior to the implementation of the FMP, (2) required vessels to keep
scup catches of less than 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) (the level at which the
minimum mesh requirement is triggered) in 100-lb (45.36 kg) boxes to
enhance enforcement, (3) accepted state dealer permits in lieu of the
required Federal permit, (4) denied access to the exclusive economic
zone to vessels from states that do not implement recreational measures
equivalent to those specified in the Federal plan, (5) used state
regulations to define scup pots for the residents of that state, and
(6) established annual recreational
[[Page 43726]]
harvest limits and deducted catches in excess of those limits from the
limits for the following year. The remainder of Amendment 8 was
published as a proposed rule on June 3, 1996 (61 FR 27851).
The Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board met on May 15, 1996, to
review the disapproved measures and, pursuant to section 304(b)(3)(A)
of the Magnuson Act, voted to revise and resubmit three provisions: The
rerigging measure, the scup pot and trap definition, and the annual
recreational harvest limit. The remaining disapproved measures were not
resubmitted.
Proposed Measures
Rerigging Measure
For the purposes of moratorium eligibility, the resubmitted
provision would require that a vessel under construction for, or being
rerigged for, use in the directed fishery for scup on January 26, 1993,
to have landed scup for sale by January 26, 1994. For the purpose of
this paragraph, ``under construction'' would mean that the keel had
been laid or the vessel was under written agreement for construction or
the vessel was under written contract for purchase. ``Being rerigged''
would mean physical alteration of the vessel or its gear had begun to
transform the vessel into one capable of fishing commercially for scup.
Scup Pot and Trap Definition
Scup pots and traps would be defined as pots or traps catching and
retaining scup. Harvesters would be required to identify such gear with
numbers assigned by the Regional Director and/or identification
markings as required by the vessel's home port state.
Annual Harvest Limit
In the second year of implementation of the amendment, a coastwide
harvest limit would be specified at a level that would reduce the
exploitation rate to the level specified in the rebuilding schedule.
This harvest limit would be allocated 78 percent to the commercial
fishery, via a coastwide commercial quota, and 22 percent to the
recreational fishery, via a recreational harvest limit. The coastwide
harvest limit would be set annually following the Monitoring Committee
process set forth in the amendment. Any landings in excess of the
target harvest level would be considered in the process of setting
recreational harvest regulations in the following year.
Classification
Section 304(a)(1)(D)(ii) of the Magnuson Act, as amended, requires
NMFS to publish regulations proposed by a Council within 15 days of
receipt of the amendment and proposed regulations. At this time, NMFS
has not determined whether the measures that this rule would implement
are consistent with the national standards, other provisions of the
Magnuson Act, and other applicable law. NMFS, in making that
determination, will take into account the information, views, and
comments received during the comment period.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
the purposes of E.O. 12866.
The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration regarding the resubmitted measures in
proposed Amendment 8 as follows:
I certify that the attached proposed rule issued under authority
section 304(a) of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management
Act will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. The proposed measures are not
significantly modified from the original submitted measures analyzed
as part of the Amendment 8 package, which was found not to have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The proposed modified measures fall within the scope of
measures previously analyzed, so the certification remains
unchanged. The proposed rule would revise and implement three of the
six disapproved measures contained in Amendment 8 to the FMP. The
measures contained in the resubmission would: (1) Confer moratorium
permit eligibility upon vessels that were re-rigging on January 26,
1993, and land scup prior to January 26, 1994; (2) define a scup pot
or trap as any scup pot or trap used by fishermen to catch and
retain scup; and (3) establish that any landings in excess of the
specified recreational harvest limit would be considered in the
process of setting recreational harvest regulations in later years.
The resubmitted rerigging provision is the only measure that
requires elaboration. The resubmitted measure is the same as those
in the other vessel permit moratoria administered to date in the
Northeast Region. It is intended to address the circumstance of a
vessel owner who took a definite action on a specified date to
construct or substantially rerig a vessel in order to participate in
a moratorium fishery. Because these owners can demonstrate that they
took such action, they are given an additional 12-month period to
satisfy the requirement that they submit proof that the vessel
actually landed the required species to qualify for the moratorium
fishery. In past moratoria, such as Northeast multispecies and
summer flounder, the provision has been applicable in a relatively
limited number of cases and that is expected to be the case in the
scup moratorium as well. Based on our past experience with Northeast
multispecies and, especially, summer flounder, the number of
applicants affected by the provision is expected to be within a
small range of 4 to 10 vessels. Therefore, no additional analysis is
needed.
This proposed rule contains collection-of-information requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The requirement to mark
traps and pots has been approved by OMB, OMB Control Number 0648-0305.
The marking of traps and pots is estimated to take 1 minute per trap or
pot.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty
for failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
The response estimates shown include the time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Send comments regarding any of these burden
estimates or any other aspect of the collection of information to NMFS
and OMB (see ADDRESSES).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: August 19, 1996.
C. Karnella,
Acting Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. In Sec. 648.2, the definition for ``Scup pot or trap'' is added
in alphabetical order to read as follows:
Sec. 648.2 Definitions.
* * * * *
Scup pot or trap means a pot or trap catching and retaining scup.
* * * * *
2. In Sec. 648.4, paragraph, (a)(6)(i)(A)(3) is added to read as
follows:
Sec. 648.4 Vessel permits.
(a) * * *
(6) * * * (i) * * * (A) * * *
(3) The vessel was under construction for, or was being rerigged
for, use in the directed fishery for scup on January 26,
[[Page 43727]]
1993, provided the vessel landed scup for sale by January 26, 1994.
* * * * *
3. In Sec. 648.14, paragraph (k)(12) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 648.14 Prohibitions.
* * * * *
(k) * * *
(12) Use a scup trap or pot that does not have identification as
specified in Sec. 648.123(b)(3).
* * * * *
4. In Sec. 648.123, paragraph (b)(3) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 648.123 Gear restrictions.
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(3) Pot and trap identification. Pots or traps used in fishing for
scup must be marked with the number assigned by the Regional Director
and/or identification marking as required by the vessel's home port
state.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-21553 Filed 8-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
