[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-12782]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 25, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 651

[Docket No. 940552-4152; I.D. 051294A]

 

Northeast Multispecies Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement measures contained in 
Framework Adjustment 4 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP). The measures contained in this rule are a series of time 
and area closures for sink gillnet gear to reduce bycatch of harbor 
porpoise. These measures replace blocks of time during each month 
during which all sink gillnets would be required to be removed from the 
water. The intent of this rule is to reduce significantly the bycatch 
of harbor porpoise in the Gulf of Maine sink gillnet fishery.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 20, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 5, its regulatory impact review (RIR) 
and the final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) contained with the 
RIR, its final supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS), and 
Framework Adjustment #4 and its environmental assessment are available 
upon request from Douglas G. Marshall, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: E. Martin Jaffe, NMFS, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 508-281-9272.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted 
Amendment 5 to NMFS on September 27, 1993. One of its principal 
objectives was to reduce the bycatch of harbor porpoise in the Gulf of 
Maine sink gillnet fishery by the end of year 4 of implementation of 
the Amendment to a level not to exceed 2 percent of the population, 
based on the best estimates of abundance and bycatch.
    The Council was requested by NMFS in October 1992 to take action to 
reduce the harbor porpoise bycatch within the context of Amendment 5. 
The Council agreed to develop fishery management measures that would 
address the issue on the basis that the sink gillnet fishery was 
subject to regulation under the FMP, there were no existing regulatory 
mechanisms to reduce porpoise takes, and the current level of bycatch 
in the fishery was not sustainable.
    Additionally, on January 7, 1993, NMFS published a proposed rule 
(58 FR 3108) to list the Gulf of Maine population of harbor porpoise as 
threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), due primarily to the 
level of incidental takes in the sink gillnet fishery and the lack of 
an adequate regulatory mechanism to accomplish bycatch reductions. As 
NMFS noted in the rule, the Marine Mammal Exemption Program contained 
in the 1988 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) did 
not set bycatch limits.
    The Council subsequently adopted the goal of achieving reductions 
in harbor porpoise bycatch, so that the actual amount of harbor 
porpoise caught as bycatch in the sink gillnet fishery would not exceed 
2 percent of the estimates of the harbor porpoise population, in part 
to avoid the pending ESA listing. This objective was based on a 
recruitment rate for harbor porpoise that is about 4 percent per year, 
and a conservative fisheries bycatch level that should not exceed 50 
percent of the recruitment rate for marine mammals. The 1991/1992 
pooled harbor porpoise population abundance estimate is 47,200. Using 
the lower bound of the 95-percent confidence interval for that 
estimate, 39,500, the 1990, 1991, and 1992 ratios of bycatch to average 
population abundance were approximately 6 percent, 4.3 percent and 2.2 
percent, respectively. A 2-percent goal allocated solely to the Gulf of 
Maine sink gillnet fishery did not take into account the unknown level 
of harbor porpoise takes in the Mid-Atlantic region and in adjacent 
Canadian waters.
    Because the 1992 abundance and bycatch information was not 
available until June 1993, however, development of effective measures 
based on the best scientific information lagged behind the formulation 
of the overall Amendment 5 package. The harbor porpoise bycatch 
mitigation measure implemented by the final rule for the Amendment 
required the removal of all sink gillnets from the water during 4-day 
blocks of time each month in year 1 after implementation of Amendment 
5. Years 2 and 3 of Amendment 5 called for 8-day blocks each month. 
Year 4 required 12-day blocks and year 5 required 16-day blocks. The 
Council supported, and NMFS approved, the use of blocks of time as an 
interim measure on the assumption that appropriate time and area 
management measures would be developed as soon as possible.
    The rationale for the interim measure was based largely on the lack 
of information concerning the sink gillnet fishery. By ``masking'' 
periods of time monthly, during which all sink gillnets must be removed 
from the water, the time during which harbor porpoise would be exposed 
to that gear would be reduced. In a simulation analyzing the effect of 
closing the Gulf of Maine sink gillnet fishery for 4 consecutive random 
days per month, approximately 8.5 percent of the fish would not be 
landed and 9.3 percent of the harbor porpoise bycatch would be avoided. 
The effect of choosing random days, however, produced very different 
values of harbor porpoise bycatch for the different trials.
    Because of the imprecise nature of the impacts of the blocks of 
time, and upon receipt of the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center's 
(NEFSC) comprehensive spatial and temporal analysis of the bycatch in 
the fall of 1993, the Council voted to support the development of a 
time and area closure management system. The intent was to replace the 
existing gillnet alternative (nets removed from the water for specified 
blocks of time) as the harbor porpoise bycatch mitigation measure. The 
Council decided, and NMFS agreed, that the gillnet fleet would not be 
subject to groundfish effort reductions until the effect of the harbor 
porpoise bycatch reduction measures could be evaluated for their 
impacts on groundfish fishing effort (approximately 1 year after 
implementation of Amendment 5).
    NMFS is amending the regulations under the framework abbreviated 
rulemaking procedure established by Amendment 5 and codified at 50 CFR 
part 651, subpart C. This procedure requires the Council, when making 
specifically allowed adjustments to the FMP, to develop and analyze the 
actions over the span of at least two Council meetings. The Council 
must provide the public with advance notice of both the proposals and 
the analysis, and opportunity to comment on them prior to and at the 
second Council meeting. Upon review of the analysis and public comment, 
the Council may recommend to the Regional Director of NMFS that the 
measures be published as a final rule if certain conditions are met. 
The Director, Northeast Region, NMFS, (Regional Director) may publish 
the measures as a final rule or as a proposed rule if additional public 
comment is needed.
    The Council complied with the procedural requirements and submitted 
the rule to NMFS, and NMFS concurs with the provisions of the Council's 
submission. This final rule implements time and area closures based on 
an analysis by the NEFSC of harbor porpoise bycatch using NMFS weighout 
and observer program data on the distribution of sink gillnet activity 
and the seasonal and spatial distribution of harbor porpoise in the 
Gulf of Maine. Extensive discussions among the Council, the fishing 
industry and scientists led to the measures outlined below.
    For purposes of the management measures contained in this final 
rule for Framework Adjustment #4, the Gulf of Maine is divided into 
three areas: The Northeast (from Penobscot Bay to Eastport, ME); Mid-
coast (from Cape Ann to Penobscot Bay); and Massachusetts Bay (from 
Cape Cod to Cape Ann). The Council recommended 30-day closures for each 
of these areas. The timing of the closures corresponds to periods when 
harbor porpoise bycatch is most likely to occur. The duration accounts 
for the variability of harbor porpoise movements. The Council 
recognizes that the Mid-coast and Northeast areas account for more of 
the bycatch than Massachusetts Bay. At this time, however, harbor 
porpoise bycatch mitigation measures are being applied uniformly across 
all regions in the Gulf of Maine.
    The NEFSC estimated that reductions of 20 to 40 percent might be 
realized in the first year of implementation of Framework Adjustment #4 
if boundaries discussed in its initial analysis of a time and area 
management system for the Gulf of Maine were used in conjunction with 
the proposed 30-day closures. The Council's boundary modifications 
could alter that estimate to some unknown degree because of the 
potential displacement of gillnet fishing effort to areas where harbor 
porpoise are still subject to some level of bycatch. It is reasonable, 
however, to anticipate the minimum estimate of approximately 20 
percent, given that the timing of the closures occurs in seasons of 
highest bycatch of harbor porpoise in their respective areas. It is 
also reasonable to conclude that the continued annual target reductions 
may be accomplished by modifications to the same measures.
    The Council adopted the approach of integrating effort reductions 
for key species of groundfish stocks with harbor porpoise bycatch 
mitigation measures after the first year of program implementation. If 
the measures, or any future approach that is adopted, accomplish the 
harbor porpoise objective without reducing gillnet fishing effort 
sufficiently to reach the 50 percent effort reduction target, the 
Council will impose additional fishing restrictions.

A. Northeast Closure Area

    This area will be closed to fishing with sink gillnets from August 
15 through September 13 of each fishing year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Point                       Latitude                              Longitude                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NE1................................  Maine shoreline       68 deg.55.0'W.                                       
NE2................................  43 deg.29.6' N.       68 deg.55.0' W.                                      
NE3................................  44 deg.04.4' N.       67 deg.48.7' W.                                      
NE4................................  44 deg.06.9' N.       67 deg.52.8' W.                                      
NE5................................  44 deg.31.2' N.       67 deg.02.7' W.                                      
NE6................................  Maine shoreline       67 deg.02.7' W.                                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Mid-coast Closure Area

    This area will be closed to fishing with sink gillnets from 
November 1 through November 30 of each fishing year. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                                           Latitude                                               Longitude                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MC1.......................................  42 deg.45' N.                                          Massachusetts shoreline.                             
MC2.......................................  42 deg.45' N.                                          70 deg.15' W.                                        
MC3.......................................  43 deg.15' N.                                          70 deg.15' W.                                        
MC4.......................................  43 deg.15' N.                                          69 deg.00' W.                                        
MC5.......................................  Maine shoreline                                        69 deg.00' W.                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Massachusetts Bay Closure Area

    This area will be closed to fishing with sink gillnets from March 1 
through March 30 of each fishing year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                                           Latitude                                               Longitude                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MB1.......................................  42 deg.30' N.                                          Massachusetts shoreline.                             
MB2.......................................  42 deg.30' N.                                          70 deg.30' W.                                        
MB3.......................................  42 deg.12' N.                                          70 deg.30' W.                                        
MB4.......................................  42 deg.12' N.                                          70 deg.00' W.                                        
MB5.......................................  Massachusetts shoreline                                70 deg.00' W.                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There is a band outside the Mid-coast closure area that encompasses 
Jeffreys Ledge and is described relative to the Mid-coast area as east 
on 42 deg.30 N. from the shore to 70 deg.00 W., north along 70 deg.00 
W. to 43 deg.00 N., on 43 deg.00 N. to 69 deg.00 W., then north on 
69 deg.00 W. to the shore. According to the sea sampling data base, 
harbor porpoise bycatch in this band has been relatively high during 
the last 3 years. Concerns focus on whether a displacement of more 
fishing effort into this region might account for a kill rate as high 
as or potentially higher than in previous years. Under provisions of 
this final rule, the band will remain open, but the Council recommended 
mandatory observer coverage for vessels fishing in the area if funds 
are available.

D. Open Areas:

    Areas shown on Figure 4 to part 651, but not enclosed by the 
boundary lines described above, would not be subject to closure at this 
time.
    The Council program calls for a 20-percent reduction in the Gulf of 
Maine harbor porpoise bycatch in year 1 of implementation of Amendment 
5. To ensure continued efforts to reduce the bycatch, Amendment 5 
states that a Harbor Porpoise Review Team (HPRT), appointed by the 
Council, will evaluate the effectiveness of the Council's mitigation 
measures annually by September 15 of each year and, if necessary, 
recommend changes to ensure that the bycatch reduction goals are met.
    Future management measures will be designed to achieve a 60-percent 
reduction in the bycatch of harbor porpoise from current levels over a 
3-year period. Based on a bycatch of 1,300 animals (a figure that 
constitutes a rough average of the bycatch estimates over the last 2 
years), the bycatch in years 1, 2, and 3 would be reduced to 1,040, 
780, and 520 animals, respectively.
    Such a reduction schedule might surpass the goal of reducing the 
harbor porpoise bycatch to a level not to exceed 2 percent of the 
estimates of population abundance and bycatch (39,500 and approximately 
1,300, respectively). The use of the lower bound of the 95-percent 
confidence interval for the abundance estimate, 39,500, adds a level of 
conservatism that in part addresses the problem of the confidence 
intervals surrounding the bycatch estimates. As previously discussed, 
the entire 2 percent bycatch cannot be allocated solely to the Gulf of 
Maine sink gillnet fleet.
    A specific target for year 4 will be established by the HPRT after 
consideration of previous targets not met in any given year or because 
of possible increased bycatch reductions required by the 1994 
amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. For example, if the 20 
percent target is missed in any of the first three years, the fourth 
year allows the flexibility to add that portion of the target 
reductions not achieved in any of the first three years to be deferred 
until the next year or until year four of the program. The year-4 
target, however, cannot exceed 20 percent of the total reduction 
required over the entire 4-year period.

Comments and Responses

    The Council held the first of two meetings required under the 
Amendment 5 framework adjustment process on February 17, 1994. Two 
public hearings were subsequently held on March 9, 1994, in Portsmouth, 
NH, and on March 10, 1994, in Ellsworth, ME. The Council approved the 
closures for the Northeast and Mid-coast areas at the second Council 
meeting held on March 17, 1994. On April 6, 1994, the Council adopted 
boundaries and a 30-day closure period for the Massachusetts Bay area.
    In addition to the meetings held within the formal framework 
period, the public was notified of all Marine Mammal Committee meetings 
held between September 1993 and March 1994, for the purpose of 
developing the time and area closure plan. For scoping purposes, the 
issue also was included in the Amendment 5 public hearing document and 
was reviewed at a series of coastwide meetings held in the spring of 
1993.
    Comments on the Council's proposal were received from Maine 
Congressional Rep. Olympia J. Snowe and the following organizations: 
Cape Ann Gillnetter's Association, Beverly, MA; Coonamessett Farm, 
Falmouth, MA; International Wildlife Coalition, East Falmouth, MA; 
Maine Gillnetters Association, Stonington, ME; Massachusetts Netters 
Association, Marshfield, MA; and the New Hampshire Commercial 
Fishermen's Association, Rye, NH.
    Comment: Numbers of fishermen had serious concerns about the 
quality of the data used to determine time and area closures.
    Response: Measures contained in Framework Adjustment #4 are based 
on the best scientific information available. NMFS has conducted two 
population surveys of harbor porpoise abundance in the Gulf of Maine/
Bay of Fundy region. Additionally, bycatch estimates have been 
calculated from observed gillnet trips, based on sea sampling data 
collected since 1989. Since June 1991, observers have made trips on 
roughly 9 percent of the Gulf of Maine gillnet trips. All available 
information on the biology, seasonal distribution, abundance and 
bycatch was reviewed at two international workshops convened by the 
NEFSC in Woods Hole, MA in May 1992 and February 1994.
    Comment: Several commenters expressed concern over the harbor 
porpoise abundance estimates for the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy 
population and the disparity between the point estimates for 1991 and 
1992. They urged the Council to ask NMFS to conduct ongoing surveys in 
order to better refine the data.
    Response: Again, the estimates are based on the best scientific 
information available. NMFS abundance estimates for 1991 and 1992 are 
37,500 (% coefficient of variation (CV)=28.8, 95% confidence interval 
(CI)=26,700 to 86,400) and 67,500 (%CV=23.1, 95% CI=32,900 to 104,600), 
respectively. The reason for the nearly twofold, but statistically 
insignificant, increase between 1991 and 1992 is unknown. Although the 
increase is statistically insignificant, it may reflect a real change 
in abundance due to a distribution change or methodological sampling 
error. Methods to investigate this difference were recommended at the 
February 23-25 NEFSC workshop to evaluate the status of harbor porpoise 
in the western North Atlantic. An abundance survey has been recommended 
for 1995.
    Comment: A suggestion was made to divide the Northeast closure area 
in half, longitudinally, or simply to make the entire area smaller.
    Response: The Northeast area proposed for closure from August 15 
through September 13 already represents a compromise forged between 
fishermen and the Council. But concerns still exist that animals will 
move into adjacent areas where vessels may concentrate and increase the 
likelihood of takes, rather than reduce that possibility. Also, NMFS 
survey data indicate that harbor porpoise usually frequent the same 
general areas of the Gulf of Maine, but not always at the same time 
every year. Because of this variability, shorter closures in smaller 
areas could result in little or no reduction in bycatch, if animals are 
not present during the closure period. This would result in lost 
fishing time with no benefit.
    Comment: Commenters expressed concern about Northeast time and area 
closures that would eliminate fishing in the Schoodic Ridge area, a 
region vital to the ``downeast'' fishermen.
    Response: The Council's final decision took into account the fact 
that the time and area plan would be phased in over 4 years. During the 
first year of implementation, the Schoodic Ridge fishing grounds will 
be left open. Further changes to the area will be based on the harbor 
porpoise bycatch estimates derived from sea sampling program and other 
relevant data submitted to the Council.
    Comment: Commenters from Maine questioned why Jeffreys Ledge, an 
area located off the coasts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire that 
accounts for a relatively high level of bycatch, was being left open in 
the first year of the plan.
    Response: The Council's Mid-coast closure area incorporates an area 
known as Jeffreys Basin, but excludes Jeffreys Ledge. In past years, 
the basin area has represented a higher level of bycatch than Jeffreys 
Ledge. Concerns focus on whether the displacement of more fishing 
effort onto Jeffreys Ledge might account for a kill rate as high as or 
potentially higher than, in previous years. As with the Northeast area, 
however, the Council considered the boundaries adequate for year one of 
implementation of Framework Adjustment #4. Bycatch of harbor porpoise 
will be monitored and the need to adjust the boundaries can be 
accomplished under the framework system.
    Comment: One individual asked for an exemption for small-boat 
operators who fish inshore only, and who are responsible for little or 
no harbor porpoise bycatch. Otherwise, they would effectively be 
excluded from the fishery as of the November 1-30 Mid-coast closure 
because they are too small to fish in offshore conditions. Another 
commenter suggested that these vessels fish under the 500-pound (226.8 
kg) possession limit for regulated species of groundfish.
    Response: Harbor porpoise throughout the Gulf of Maine are 
distributed both inshore and offshore and become entangled in gillnets, 
regardless of vessel size. Additionally, all sink gillnet vessels 
fishing under a Federal multispecies permit, regardless of where they 
are fishing, are subject to the porpoise bycatch reduction measures.
    Comment: Gillnet gear should be given credit, one commenter said, 
for being size-selective and for resulting in discards of juvenile 
finfish.
    Response: Once the time and area program has been in place 
(approximately 1 year from the date of implementation), the Council 
will evaluate the impact of the gillnet fishery on the mortality of 
groundfish stocks and develop management measures that are appropriate 
for the gillnet sector.
    Comment: Some commenters felt the harbor porpoise bycatch reduction 
program was a mechanism being used by other interests to close the sink 
gillnet fishery.
    Response: The Council's measures are designed to minimize impacts 
on the sink gillnet fishery, while at the same time achieve the stated 
harbor porpoise bycatch reduction objectives. The Council has held 16 
public meetings since its initial commitment to incorporate bycatch 
measures in Amendment 5 and has involved the fishing community, 
conservation groups and interested parties in the development of the 
FMP.
    Comment: Several commenters felt it was inappropriate to use the 
harbor porpoise time and area closure plan to protect endangered 
whales.
    Response: As part of the Council's obligations under section 7 of 
the ESA, a consultation with NMFS is required if a fishery affects, 
either directly or indirectly, endangered or threatened species or any 
designated critical habitat. Because this framework adjustment 
represents a change in management measures for a gear type that has 
interactions with endangered species, the Council re-initiated the 
section 7 consultation developed for Amendment 5, identified potential 
interactions and has addressed them in the context of this framework 
adjustment.
    Comment: Many fishermen supported the use of ``pingers,'' sound 
emitting devices that increase an animal's awareness of nets, as a 
bycatch mitigation measure. A suggestion was made to use pingers in 
year 1 of implementation of Amendment 5 in conjunction with four-day 
blocks of time, but with no subsequent expansion of the days during 
which nets would be removed from the water in future years.
    Response: The 4-day blocks of time during which all gillnets would 
be removed from the water each month throughout the range of species 
covered by the Northeast Multispecies FMP was almost universally 
rejected by commenters who attended public meetings and by those who 
submitted written comments. The Council and NMFS are aware that 
initiatives are underway which involve acoustical alarm research and 
possible modifications to gillnet gear to reduce porpoise bycatch. If 
any of these approaches produce scientifically supportable results that 
can be incorporated into a management strategy, the Council would 
recommend them through a framework adjustment with a minimum of 
regulatory delay.
    Comment: Several commenters questioned why the Council rejected the 
use of an industry proposal based on a reduction in the number of 
gillnets in use.
    Response: At this time, it is not possible to determine the 
relationship between the number of nets and fishing or harbor porpoise 
mortality. It is known only that there is a relationship that is not 
linear. Even a simple estimation of the number of nets in use is 
impossible, at present, because of the variability of length of nets, 
numbers of nets in a string, soak time and the variable numbers of both 
full- and part-time vessels participating in the fishery. Moreover, 
enforcement of a reduction in the number of nets in the ocean, as 
opposed to a time and area prohibition, would be very difficult, if not 
impossible, to accomplish at this time.

Classification

    This regulation is not subject to the requirements to prepare a 
proposed rule under the conditions met by this framework action that 
have provided adequate prior public comment when the action was 
proposed and discussed over the course of several Council meetings. 
Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not prepared for this 
action because it is exempt from such an analysis under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds there is 
good cause to waive prior notice under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Public meetings held by the Council 
to discuss the management measures implemented by this rule provided 
adequate opportunity for public comment to be considered. Thus, 
additional opportunity for public comment is unnecessary.
    The AA also finds that under section 553(d)(1) of the APA, because 
immediate implementation of this rule relieves a restriction that would 
require 4 days out of the water by all vessels using sink gillnet gear 
in May and June, there is no need to delay for 30 days the 
effectiveness of this regulation.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 651

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: May 20, 1994.
Charles Karnella,
Acting Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 651 is amended 
as follows:

PART 651--NORTHEAST MULTISPECIES FISHERY

    1. The authority citation for part 651 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    2. Section 651.2 is amended by removing the definition of ``bottom-
tending gillnet or sink gillnet'' and adding a definition of ``sink 
gillnet'' in alphabetical order to read as follows:


Sec. 651.2  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Sink gillnet means any gillnet, anchored or otherwise, that is 
designed to be, capable of being, or is fished on or near the bottom in 
the lower third of the water column.
* * * * *
    3. Section 651.9 is amended by revising paragraphs (a)(13) and 
(e)(31) to read as follows:


Sec. 651.9  Prohibitions.

    (a) * * *
    (13) Fish with, set, haul back, possess on board a vessel, or fail 
to remove a sink gillnet from the areas and for the times specified in 
Sec. 651.32(a), unless authorized in writing by the Regional Director.
* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (31) Fish with, set, haul back, possess on board a vessel, or fail 
to remove a sink gillnet from the EEZ portion of the areas, and for the 
times specified in Sec. 651.32(a), unless authorized in writing by the 
Regional Director.
* * * * *
    4. Section 651.32 is amended by revising paragraphs (a) and (b) (1) 
and (2) to read as follows:


Sec. 651.32  Sink gillnet requirements to reduce harbor porpoise takes.

    (a) General. In addition to the measures specified in Secs. 651.20 
and 651.21, persons owning or operating vessels using, possessing on 
board a vessel, or fishing with, sink gillnet gear are subject to the 
following restrictions, unless otherwise authorized in writing by the 
Regional Director:
    (1) Areas closed to sink gillnets. All persons owning or operating 
vessels must remove all of their sink gillnet gear from, and may not 
use, set, haul back fish with, or possess on board a vessel a sink 
gillnet in, the EEZ portion of the areas and for the times specified in 
paragraphs (a)(1) (i) through (iii) of this section; and, all persons 
owning or operating vessels issued a Federal Multispecies Limited 
Access Permit must remove all of their sink gillnet gear from, and, may 
not use, set, haul back fish with or possess on board a vessel a sink 
gillnet in, the entire areas and for the times specified in paragraphs 
(a)(1) (i) through (iii) of this section.
    (i) Northeast Closure Area. During the period August 15 through 
September 13 of each fishing year, the restrictions and requirements 
specified in the introductory text of paragraph (a)(1) of this section 
shall apply to an area known as the Northeast Closure Area, which is an 
area bounded by straight lines connecting the following points in the 
order stated (see Figure 4 of this part).

                                                                 Northeast Closure Area                                                                 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                                           Latitude                                               Longitude                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NE1.......................................  Maine shoreline                                        68 deg.55.0' W.                                      
NE2.......................................  43 deg.29.6' N.                                        68 deg.55.0' W.                                      
NE3.......................................  44 deg.04.4' N.                                        67 deg.48.7' W.                                      
NE4.......................................  44 deg.06.9' N.                                        67 deg.52.8' W.                                      
NE5.......................................  44 deg.31.2' N.                                        67 deg.02.7' W.                                      
NE6.......................................  Maine shoreline                                        67 deg.02.7' W.                                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) Mid-coast Closure Area. During the period November 1 through 
November 30 of each fishing year, the restrictions and requirements 
specified in the introductory text of paragraph (a)(1) of this section 
shall apply to an area known as the Mid-coast Closure Area, which is an 
area bounded by straight lines connecting the following points in the 
order stated (see Figure 4 of this part). 

                                                                 Mid-coast Closure Area                                                                 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                                           Latitude                                               Longitude                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MC1.......................................  42 deg.45' N.                                          Massachusetts shoreline.                             
MC2.......................................  42 deg.45' N.                                          70 deg.15' W.                                        
MC3.......................................  43 deg.15' N.                                          70 deg.15' W.                                        
MC4.......................................  43 deg.15' N.                                          69 deg.00' W.                                        
MC5.......................................  Maine shoreline                                        69 deg.00' W.                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (iii) Massachusetts Bay Closure Area. During the period March 1 
through March 30 of each fishing year, the restrictions and 
requirements specified in the introductory text of paragraph (a)(1) of 
this section shall apply to an area known as the Massachusetts Bay 
Closure Area, which is an area bounded by straight lines connecting the 
following points in the order stated (see Figure 4 of this part). 

                                                             Massachusetts Bay Closure Area                                                             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                                           Latitude                                               Longitude                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MB1.......................................  42 deg.30' N.                                          Massachusetts shoreline.                             
MB2.......................................  42 deg.30' N.                                          70 deg.30' W.                                        
MB3.......................................  42 deg.12' N.                                          70 deg.30' W.                                        
MB4.......................................  42 deg.12' N.                                          70 deg.00' W.                                        
MB5.......................................  Massachusetts shoreline                                70 deg.00' W.                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (b) * * * (1) By September 15 of each year, the Council's Harbor 
Porpoise Review team (HPRT) shall complete an annual review of harbor 
porpoise bycatch and abundance data in the Gulf of Maine sink gillnet 
fishery, evaluate the impacts on other measures that reduce harbor 
porpoise take, and may make recommendations on other ``reduction-of-
take'' measures in light of the harbor porpoise mortality reduction 
goals.
    (2) At the first Council meeting following the HPRT annual meeting, 
the team shall make recommendations to the Council as to what 
adjustments or changes, if any, to the ``reduction-of-take'' measures 
should be implemented in order to meet harbor porpoise mortality 
reduction goals.
* * * * *
    5. Figure 4 is added to the part as follows:

BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

TR25MY94.001


[FR Doc. 94-12782 Filed 5-20-94; 4:06 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-C