[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 28, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 33364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15868]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 950106003-5070-02; I.D. 062195B]


Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Close Southern Oregon Sport Season

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

ACTION: Inseason action.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, on behalf of 
the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), publishes this 
inseason action pursuant to IPHC regulations approved by the U.S. 
Government to govern the Pacific halibut fishery. This action is 
intended to enhance the conservation of the Pacific halibut stock in 
order to help sustain it at an adequate level in the northern Pacific 
Ocean and Bering Sea.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 11:59 p.m. June 1, 1995, through December 31, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Pennoyer, 907-586-7221; William 
W. Stelle, Jr., 206-526-6140; or Donald McCaughran, 206-634-1838.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The IPHC, under the Convention between the 
United States of America and Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut 
Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (signed at Ottawa, 
Ontario, on March 2, 1953), as amended by a Protocol Amending the 
Convention (signed at Washington, DC, on March 29, 1979), has issued 
this inseason action pursuant to IPHC regulations governing the Pacific 
halibut fishery. The regulations have been approved by NMFS (60 FR 
14651, March 20, 1995). On behalf of the IPHC, this inseason action is 
published in the Federal Register to provide additional notice of its 
effectiveness, and to inform persons subject to the inseason action of 
the restrictions and requirements established therein.

Inseason Action

1995 Halibut Landing Report Number 5

Southern Oregon Sport Season to Close June 1
    The preliminary catch estimate for the 1995 sport halibut fishery 
between the Florence North Jetty (Siuslaw River, 4 deg.01'08'' N. lat.) 
and the California border (42 deg.00'00'' N. lat.) indicates the 5,999 
lb (2.72 metric tons (mt)) catch limit for the early fishery will be 
reached on June 1. Therefore, the sport halibut fishery in this area 
will close at 11:59 p.m. on June 1. Additional effort due to excellent 
weather significantly increased the harvest during May 25 through 27, 
1995, allowing only a short notice before the closure.
    Sport fishing for Pacific halibut will reopen on June 2, 7 days a 
week, only in the area inside the 30-fathom curve nearest to the 
coastline as plotted on National Ocean Service charts numbered 18520, 
18580, and 18600 from the Florence North Jetty (Siuslaw River) to the 
California border. The fishery will close August 2 or when 1,500 lb 
(.68 mt) are estimated to have been taken, whichever occurs first. Any 
poundage remaining unharvested after the earlier season will be added 
to this season. The daily bag limit remains two Pacific halibut per 
person, one with a minimum overall size limit of 32 inches (81.3 cm) 
and the second with a minimum overall size limit of 50 inches (127.0 
cm).

    Dated: June 22, 1995.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-15868 Filed 6-28-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F