[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1893-1894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-948]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. 950421111-5111-01; I.D. 120695A]
RIN 0648-AH95


Summer Flounder Fishery; Dealer Reporting Requirements

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

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is withdrawing the proposed rule that would have amended 
the regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer 
Flounder Fishery (FMP) to make it easier for federally permitted 
dealers to comply with existing reporting requirements and to improve 
monitoring of the commercial summer flounder quota.

DATES: This proposed rule is withdrawn January 23, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regina Spallone, 508-281-9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FMP was developed jointly by the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management 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 United States-Canadian border. Implementing regulations for the 
fishery are found at 50 CFR part 625.
    The summer flounder fishery is managed under a quota system. The 

[[Page 1894]]
    quota is divided among the coastal states based upon set percentages. 
Landings must be monitored weekly in order to determine when a state's 
quota has been reached.
    Since 1993, federally permitted summer flounder dealers have been 
required to report weekly all fish purchases. While several species of 
fish purchased by these dealers are under quota management systems 
(summer flounder, squid, mackerel, and butterfish), only the summer 
flounder quota requires weekly monitoring at this time. The quotas for 
the remaining species purchased by these dealers can be adequately 
monitored through monthly reports.
    Consequently, NMFS developed a proposed rule published in the 
Federal Register on May 2, 1995 (60 FR 21491), to revise the weekly 
reporting requirement to make it pertain to summer flounder purchases 
only. NMFS believed that reporting purchases of all species on a weekly 
basis was unnecessary and burdensome. The comprehensive reporting of 
all fish purchases would have been required monthly rather than weekly. 
This proposed change would have reduced the burden associated with the 
reporting requirement and as a secondary benefit, would have allowed 
more accurate price information to be collected, since such information 
was often unavailable to dealers on a weekly basis. NMFS further 
proposed to require that the weekly summer flounder purchase report be 
made via an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, rather than by a 
written report. An IVR system would have made it easier for federally 
permitted dealers to comply with existing reporting requirements and 
would have improved the monitoring of the commercial summer flounder 
quota.
    NMFS has decided to withdraw this proposed rule. Initially, NMFS 
opted for the IVR system for weekly quota (real-time) monitoring on the 
premise that only the summer flounder quota would require weekly 
monitoring. However, that premise is no longer valid. The New England 
and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils are considering real-time 
monitoring in additional fisheries in the near future, and, 
consequently, it is not likely that the IVR system is a viable option 
for real-time monitoring of multiple species. It is apparent that a 
more comprehensive real-time monitoring system may be required, and 
modification of the summer flounder reporting requirements would be 
done as part of that system.
    The proposed rule also contained three technical changes that would 
have modified the summer flounder regulations pertaining to federally 
permitted dealers. These proposed measures are also being withdrawn at 
this time and will be addressed in a future action.
    Consequently, the proposed rule to amend the summer flounder 
regulations, published May 2, 1995, is being withdrawn.

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

    Dated: January 18, 1996.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-948 Filed 1-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F