[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 45392]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21576]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 641

[I.D. 082395A]


Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 11

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management 
plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 11 to the Fishery Management 
Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) for 
review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Written comments are 
requested from the public.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 24, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office, 
NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
    Requests for copies of Amendment 11, which includes an 
environmental assessment, a regulatory impact review, and an initial 
regulatory flexibility analysis should be sent to the Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Council, 5401 W. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 331, 
Tampa, FL 33609-2486; fax: 813-225-7015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael E. Justen or Robert Sadler, 
813-570-5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson Act), requires that a council-prepared 
amendment to a fishery management plan be submitted to NMFS for review 
and approval, disapproval, or partial disapproval. The Magnuson Act 
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an amendment, immediately 
publish a document that the amendment is available for public review 
and comment.
    Amendment 11 proposes to: (1) Revise the annual framework procedure 
for modifying management measures; (2) specify in the framework 
procedure that the recovery period will be set by the Council, not its 
Stock Assessment Panel; (3) change the definition of optimum yield; (4) 
allow total allowable catch (TAC) to exceed the allowable biological 
catch (ABC) level specified for stocks assessed as not overfished; (5) 
increase the upper limit for framework adjustments of the red snapper 
recovery schedule from 1.5 to 2.0 times the biological generation time, 
or other period to be approved by the Council; (6) limit sale of reef 
fish by permitted vessels to permitted reef fish dealers; (7) require 
that permitted reef fish dealers purchase reef fish caught in the 
exclusive economic zone only from permitted vessels; (8) allow transfer 
of fish trap endorsements in the event of death or disability; (9) 
allow a one-time transfer of certain fish trap endorsements; (10) 
implement a new reef fish permit moratorium for no more than 5 years or 
until December 31, 2000, while the Council considers limited access for 
the reef fish fishery; (11) allow permit transfers to other persons 
with vessels by vessel owners who qualified for their reef fish permit; 
and (12) require charter vessel and headboat permits.
    The Director, Southeast Region, NMFS, based on a preliminary 
evaluation of Amendment 11, has disapproved three amendment measures, 
because these measures were determined to be inconsistent with the 
Magnuson Act. The disapproved measures included the following sections 
of Amendment 11: (1) Section 8.3, Optimum Yield Definition; (2) section 
8.5, Use of ABC Range for Specification of TAC, setting TAC above ABC 
for non overfished resources; and (3) section 8.7, Respecify the 
Generation Time Multiplier for Recovery Periods.
    Proposed regulations to implement those measures of Amendment 11 
that were not disapproved based on the preliminary evaluation are 
scheduled for publication within 15 days.

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

    Dated: August 25, 1995.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-21576 Filed 8-25-95; 3:49 pm]
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