[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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