[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 28, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 33365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15870]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 301

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


Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Oregon Sport Season Closure

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. May 27, 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 3

First Oregon Sport Season to Close May 27
    The preliminary catch estimate for the 1995 sport halibut fishery 
between Cape Falcon (45 deg.46'00'' N. lat.) and the Florence North 
Jetty (Siuslaw River, 44 deg.01'08'' N. lat.) indicates the 67,706 lb 
(30.71 metric tons (mt)) catch limit will be reached on May 27, 1995. 
Therefore, the sport halibut fishery in this area will close at 11:59 
p.m. on May 27.
    Sport fishing for Pacific halibut will reopen on May 28, 1995, and 
remain open through August 2, 1995, 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 
Cape Falcon to the Florence North Jetty (Siuslaw River), or until 3,314 
lb (1.50 mt) are estimated to have been taken and the season is closed 
by the IPHC, whichever occurs first. Any poundage remaining unharvested 
after the earlier season will be added to this season. The daily bag 
limit remains two 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).

    Dated: June 22, 1995.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-15870 Filed 6-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F