[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40113-40114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19324]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. 950522140-5192-02; I.D. 050595E]
RIN 0648-XX22


Summer Flounder Fishery; 1995 Recreational Fishery Measures

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues the final specifications for the 1995 summer 
flounder recreational fishery, which include no seasonal closure, a 
possession limit, and a minimum fish size. The intent of this rule is 
to comply with implementing regulations for the fishery that require 
NMFS to publish measures for the upcoming fishing year that will 
prevent overfishing of the resource.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 2, 1995, except for an amendment to 
Sec. 625.25(a) which will be effective August 14, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Environmental Assessment and supporting 
documents used by the Monitoring Committee are available from: 
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, 
Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 19901-6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for the Summer 
Flounder Fishery (FMP) was developed jointly by the Atlantic States 
Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council (Council) in consultation with the New England and 
South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. The management unit for the 
FMP is summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in U.S. waters of the 
Atlantic Ocean from the southern border of North Carolina northward to 
the Canadian border.
    Section 625.20 outlines the process for determining annual 
commercial and recreational catch quotas and other restrictions for the 
summer flounder fishery. Pursuant to Sec. 625.20, the Director, 
Northeast Region, NMFS, implements measures for the fishing year to 
ensure achievement of the fishing mortality rate specified in the FMP. 
This rule announces the following 

[[Page 40114]]
measures pertaining to the recreational fishery, which are unchanged 
from the proposed measures that were published in the Federal Register 
on May 30, 1995 (60 FR 28082): (1) Elimination of the closed season, 
(2) an individual possession limit of 6 fish per person, and (3) a 
minimum fish size of 14 inches (35.6 cm).

Comments and Responses

    Two comments were received during the comment period concerning the 
proposed measures: One from the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council 
(NJMFC) and the other from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. 
Eight comments were also submitted prior to the Council/ASMFC meeting 
at which the recreational measures were initially discussed (March, 
1995) and those comments are also responded to in this rule.
    Comment: The eight individuals who submitted comments prior to the 
March 1995 Council meeting wrote to state their opposition to imposing 
any closed season for the recreational fishery. All argued that past 
closures prior to May 1 and after October 31 have had a 
disproportionate negative impact on the recreational fishery on the 
Eastern Shore of Virginia.
    Response: This final rule eliminates the closed season.
    Comment: The NJMFC opposes the individual possession limit of six 
fish per person. In March, the Council and ASMFC recommended 
elimination of the closed season, an eight-fish possession limit, and a 
14-inch (35.6-cm) minimum fish size. The State of New Jersey adopted 
those measures following that meeting. The recommendation was 
disapproved by NMFS in April. The NJMFC states that it would be 
impossible administratively for the State to change the possession 
limit now, and that the charter/party boats possessing Federal permits 
would be subject to the Federal possession limit, even if fishing 
exclusively in State waters.
    Response: Although consistency between state and Federal 
regulations is preferred, the State of New Jersey does not need to 
alter its rules governing State waters. NMFS expects to continue to 
work with the ASMFC to make State and Federal regulations as consistent 
as practicable. Until state and Federal rules are consistent, New 
Jersey charter and party boat owners and operators who fish exclusively 
in State waters may elect not to fish in Federal waters and cancel 
their Federal permits.
    NMFS recognizes New Jersey's potential difficulty in changing the 
State possession limit. NMFS must base its decisions on what it 
believes is necessary to protect the resource in Federal waters, 
regardless of the fact that Federal and state rules may differ.
    Comment: The NJMFC believes that establishing an individual 
possession limit of six fish per person creates an impression that NMFS 
is restricting the recreational fishery in order to compensate for the 
court-ordered increase in the 1995 commercial quota. They note that the 
court-ordered increase altered the 60 percent-40 percent commercial-
recreational catch allocation ratio specified in the FMP.
    Response: The court-ordered increase to the commercial sector was 
specific to the commercial sector. While the court-ordered increase may 
have changed the commercial-recreational allocation ratio specified in 
the FMP, no reduction in the recreational allocation was made to 
compensate for the increase in the commercial sector. The recreational 
sector is receiving the same amount of fish as it would have received 
before the court-ordered increase.
    Comment: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission endorses the 
management measures and states that they represent an acceptable 
conservation regime.
    Response: NMFS agrees with this commenter and has implemented the 
management measures.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 625.
    These final specifications are exempt from review under E.O. 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds that the 
elimination of the closed season relieves a restriction and thus, under 
5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), that measure is not subject to a delay in the 
effective date. The AA also finds that a 30-day delay in effective date 
of the possession limit would adversely impact the resource because the 
fishing season has already opened and the more restrictive possession 
limit is necessary to keep the recreational fishery within its 
coastwide allocation for 1995. Therefore, the AA finds for good cause 
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) that the 30-day delay in effective date for 
the possession limit should be waived, in part; a 7-day delay in 
effective date is appropriate in order to provide notice to the 
fishermen of the change, while still implementing the new possession 
limit as soon as practicable.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 625

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 1, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR Part 625 is amended 
as follows:

PART 625--SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY

    1. The authority citation for part 625 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. Section 625.22 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 625.22  Time restrictions.

    Vessels that are not eligible for a moratorium permit under 
Sec. 625.4 and fishermen subject to the possession limit may fish for 
summer flounder during the period January 1 through December 31. This 
time period may be adjusted pursuant to the procedures in Sec. 625.20.
    3. In Sec. 625.25, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 625.25  Possession limit.

    (a) No person shall possess more than six summer flounder in, or 
harvested from, the EEZ unless that person is the owner or operator of 
a fishing vessel issued a moratorium permit under Sec. 625.4. Persons 
aboard a commercial vessel that is not eligible for a moratorium permit 
under Sec. 625.4 are subject to this possession limit. The owner, 
operator, and crew of a charter or party boat issued a moratorium 
permit under Sec. 625.4(b) are not subject to the possession limit when 
not carrying passengers for hire and when the crew size does not exceed 
five for a party boat and three for a charter boat.
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[FR Doc. 95-19324 Filed 8-2-95; 10:20 am]
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