[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 58 (Monday, March 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12055-12056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7111]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 640
RIN 0648-AI16
[Docket No. 960314075-6075-01; I.D. 030896A]

Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic; 
Removal of Regulations

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to withdraw approval of the Fishery Management 
Plan for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and South 
Atlantic (FMP) and remove its implementing regulations. Virtually the 
entire commercial and recreational fisheries for spiny lobsters occur 
off Florida's coast and State regulations are adequate to protect and 
manage the resource. Accordingly, removal of the Federal regulations 
eliminates duplication of effort, reduces costs of enforcement and data 
collection, and is in accordance with the President's Regulatory 
Reinvention Initiative intended to reform Federal regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 9, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the proposed rule and requests for copies 
of the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review on this action 
to the Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., 
St. Petersburg, FL 33702.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Georgia Cranmore, 813-570-5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of Mexico 
and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils) and was 
implemented in 1982 through regulations at 50 CFR part 640 under the 
authority of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson Act).
    The spiny lobster fishery managed under the FMP is located 
primarily off the coast of Florida. The majority of harvest is from 
Florida's waters (0-3 nautical miles (0-5.6 km) off the Atlantic coast 
and 0-9 nautical miles (0-16.7 km) off the Gulf coast), and virtually 
all of the harvest is landed in Florida's ports. The principal harvest 
area is the Florida Keys reef tract. Consequently, the great 
preponderance of landings have occurred in Dade and Monroe Counties, 
the southernmost counties of Florida. In 1995, 97 percent of the 
commercial landings of spiny lobster were in these two counties and 92 
percent of those spiny lobster were harvested in Florida's waters. A 
Florida license is required for all commercial landings in Florida. The 
FMP, as implemented in 1982, and subsequently amended, complemented the 
State's management regime. By adopting Florida's rules, the Council and 
NMFS accommodated Florida's leading role in regulating this fishery.
    The regulations to implement Amendment 4 to the FMP (60 FR 21493, 
May 2, 1995) for the first time established management measures other 
than Florida's for the spiny lobster fishery off the states of Georgia, 
South Carolina, and North Carolina. These regulations opened the 
fishery year-round in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off those 
states, but established a daily bag or possession limit of two spiny 
lobsters per person in or from the EEZ in both the commercial and 
recreational fisheries.
    Recent commercial landings of spiny lobster off the southern 
Atlantic states north of Florida are negligible--not exceeding 45 lb 
(20 kg) per year in the years 1990 through 1994. Recreational landings 
north of Florida are not known. However, a recent NMFS survey indicated 
that only a small number of recreational divers harvested spiny lobster 
north of Florida. In addition, scientific debate continues regarding 
the biological status and population dynamics of spiny lobsters in 
waters north of Florida, including the issues of recruitment and the 
fate of larvae from the adult population in this area. Commercial 
landings in Gulf states other than Florida are sporadic and minimal, 
not exceeding 507 lb (230 kg) in any of the years 1990 through 1994. 
The level of recreational fishing for lobsters in these Gulf states is 
unknown. For these reasons, lack of Federal management of this fishery 
is unlikely to have any significant effect on the status of the 
resource or on the conduct of the fishery.
    Section 303(a)(1) of the Magnuson Act (16 U.S.C. 1853 (a)(1)) 
requires that a fishery management plan contain the measures that are 
``necessary and appropriate for the conservation and management of the 
fishery to prevent overfishing, and to protect, restore, and promote 
the long-term health and stability of the fishery,'' and that are 
``consistent with the national standards.'' NMFS has concluded that 
Florida's regulations are adequate to protect and manage the spiny 
lobster resource off its coast and that the removal of Federal 
regulations for the spiny lobster fishery in the EEZ off the other 
states should have no significant regulatory or biological effects. If 
necessary, other states may implement regulations that will protect and 
manage the resource off their coasts. Therefore, NMFS has determined 
that Federal regulations for this fishery are not ``necessary and 
appropriate.'' Furthermore, continuation of Federal regulations would 
not be consistent with the Magnuson Act's National Standard 7 that 
requires that ``conservation and management measures shall, where 
practicable, minimize costs and avoid unnecessary duplication.''
    The FMP also includes a management measure applicable to slipper 
lobsters, Scyllarides spp., which are a minor component of the 
incidental catch in bottom trawl fisheries. The FMP prohibits taking of 
egg-bearing female slipper lobsters but includes no further management 
measures for these species. There is no known directed fishery for 
slipper lobsters and slipper lobsters are so broadly and sparsely 
distributed over the range of the management unit that insufficient 
information is available either to monitor their abundance or assess 
their status relative to

[[Page 12056]]
overfishing. It is believed that their principal or preferred habitats 
are areas of rough and irregular bottom where trawling is not possible; 
this may afford them adequate protection against overfishing.
    For the reasons summarized above, and in accordance with the 
President's Regulatory Reinvention Initiative, NMFS proposes to 
withdraw approval of the FMP and to remove its implementing 
regulations. If approval of the FMP is withdrawn, a notice establishing 
a control date governing entry into the Gulf of Mexico and South 
Atlantic spiny lobster fishery under any future limited entry program 
(51 FR 5713, February 18, 1986) would no longer be relevant.
    NMFS recognizes the states' authority under section 306(a)(3) of 
the Magnuson Act (16 U.S.C. 1856(a)(3)) to regulate vessels registered 
under its laws when such vessels harvest spiny lobsters in the EEZ. If 
fishing practices outside the authority of a state should constitute an 
emergency situation that jeopardizes effective management of the spiny 
lobster fishery or resource in the EEZ, NMFS would consider 
promulgating emergency regulations to address the emergency, as 
authorized by section 305(c)(1) of the Magnuson Act (16 U.S.C. 
1855(c)(1)).

Classification

    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.
    The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the 
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 
the Small Business Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not 
prepared. Since Florida's regulations on the spiny lobster fishery are 
not substantively different from the Federal regulations that would be 
removed, conduct of the fishery off Florida would not be significantly 
affected. The number of vessels in the spiny lobster fishery off other 
states is not a substantial number.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 640

    Fisheries, Fishing, Incorporation by reference, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: March 19, 1996.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, under the authority of 16 
U.S.C. et seq., part 640 is proposed to be removed.
[FR Doc. 96-7111 Filed 3-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F