[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 120 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31499-31501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15679]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 652
[Docket No. 960531155-6155-01; I.D. 050996B]
Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fishery; Control Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of a
control date.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council (Council) is considering limiting future access to anyone
entering that portion of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) fishery,
commonly referred to as the Maine mahogany quahog fishery, that is
managed through the Maine Mahogany Quahog Experimental Fishery Program
after June 20, 1996 (control date). Future access to the Maine mahogany
quahog resource in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) will not be
assured beyond the control date if a management regime is developed and
implemented under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson Act) that limits the number of participants in the fishery.
This document is intended to promote awareness of potential eligibility
criteria for future access to that portion of the ocean quahog fishery
managed through the Maine Mahogany Quahog Experimental Fishery Program
and to discourage new entries into this fishery based on economic
speculation while the Council contemplates whether and how access
should be controlled. The potential eligibility criteria may be based
on historical participation, defined as any number of trips having any
documented amount of ocean quahog landings. This document, therefore,
gives the public notice that they should locate and preserve records
[[Page 31500]]
that substantiate and verify their participation in that portion of the
Maine mahogany quahog fishery in Federal waters managed through the
Maine Mahogany Quahog Experimental Fishery Program.
DATES: Comments must be submitted by July 19, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: David R. Keifer, Executive
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 300 South New
Street, Dover DE 19904.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myles Raizin, Fishery Policy Analyst,
508-281-9104.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The surf clam and ocean quahog resources were the first resources
placed under Federal management after the Magnuson Act was implemented.
Surf clams and ocean quahogs are currently managed by the individual
transferrable quota (ITQ) system that was implemented by Amendment 8 to
the Fishery Management Plan for the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog
Fisheries (FMP), that was effective September 30, 1990. Amendment 8
replaced an elaborate and costly effort control system with one which
limited only the outputs, or landings of the two species, and gave
harvesters the flexibility to utilize their landing allocation in
whatever manner best suited their individual needs and situations.
NMFS assigned landing allocations to historic industry
participants, which could be harvested, leased, or sold to other
individuals at the allocation holder's discretion. The major factor
employed in assigning those allocations was past participation in the
fisheries. Documentation of past participation was provided by
fishermen themselves, using logbook forms supplied by the government.
Mandatory landings reports have been a requirement for any vessel
harvesting surf clams or ocean quahogs in the EEZ since 1978.
Ocean quahogs are distributed in U.S. waters from the Canadian
border to Cape Hatteras. South of Cape Cod, the species occurs
primarily in EEZ waters, although some fishable concentrations occur in
Rhode Island Sound, and in coastal waters off Massachusetts. In the
Gulf of Maine, ocean quahogs occur both in state and EEZ waters. Two
significant and separate fisheries currently exist for ocean quahogs,
in the Middle Atlantic Bight, from Martha's Vineyard to the Delmarva
Peninsula, and in waters off eastern Maine.
In general, over 99 percent of the ocean quahog landings in weight
come from the mid-Atlantic fishery. Effort and catch per unit of effort
in the Maine fishery are also substantially less than that in the mid-
Atlantic. The Maine fishery occurs in a relatively restricted area
centered off Mt. Desert Island. Ocean quahog catches from the coast of
Maine are restricted to a narrow band inshore of the 50 fathom line.
In 1990, a problem was discovered relative to the fishery for ocean
quahogs off of Maine. While previously this small-scale fishery had
occurred primarily within Maine state waters, area closures were
required due to the presence of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxin.
These closures forced vessels to fish further offshore in the EEZ
starting in 1987.
It was not until one of the participants in the Maine ocean quahog
fishery was issued a violation notice by the U.S. Coast Guard that
Maine participants came to understand the Federal management measures
governing the quahog fishery. Some of the participants in this fishery
had mistakenly believed that the animal that was locally called a
``mahogany clam'' was a different species than the ocean quahog under
Federal management.
Although the mahogany quahog fishery that occurs off Maine uses the
same species as the ocean quahog off the mid-Atlantic, the Maine
mahogany quahog is a distinct biological group of animals. For
instance, Maine mahogany quahogs have a much slower growth rate than
ocean quahogs off the mid-Atlantic.
To address the issue of a distinct biological group of ocean
quahogs off the coast of Maine, the Director, Northeast Region, NMFS,
initiated an experimental fishery for mahogany quahogs off of downeast
Maine. The participants in this fishery are required to obtain and
carry on board their vessels a certificate issued by NMFS. Several
conditions are placed on the experimental fishery, including an area
restriction that prohibits vessels from fishing south of 43 deg.50' N.
latitude (changed from 43 deg.00' N. latitude in 1992), vessel and
dealer reporting requirements, an obligation to take observers aboard
if required by NMFS, and a requirement for vessels to sell only to
federally permitted dealers.
Significant differences exist between the Maine and mid-Atlantic
fisheries. The markets into which each type of ocean quahog are sold
also differ. The major ocean quahog fishery from the mid-Atlantic has
typically been a larger scale industrial enterprise, conducted by large
vessels operating in deep, offshore waters. Ocean quahogs are dislodged
from the seabed using large, hydraulic dredges that shoot jets of water
from their leading edge. Once on board, ocean quahogs are stored in
metal cages capable of holding 32 bu each. At the dock, cranes lift the
cages into tractor trailers for shipment to processing plants where
they are steamed open, thoroughly washed, and processed into a variety
of product forms primarily for clam chowder. Reported prices have been
relatively constant over time and have ranged from $3.00 to $4.70 per
bu in 1995.
The small-scale Maine mahogany quahog fishery utilizes small, dry
dredges on small boats typically ranging between 35 (11 m) and 45 ft
(14 m) in length. The quahogs targeted by these vessels are smaller
than in the industrial fishery, averaging between 1.5 (38 mm) and 2.5
inches (63 mm), and are destined for the fresh, half-shell market. The
average exvessel price in 1995 was $34 per bu but prices have been as
high as $45 per bu in 1991.
Significant landings (124,000 bu) of quahogs in Maine were first
recorded in 1986. For the next eight years, reported landings were on a
declining trend, falling to a low of 22,000 bu in 1994. The number of
vessels reporting landings in the Federal experimental fishery declined
from 45 boats in 1991 to 30 in 1994.
The 1995 data have not yet been finalized, however, the State of
Maine has records of landings increasing sharply to approximately
40,000 bu, due to the discovery of an extensive new bed. Indications
from officials in Maine are that this new resource site straddles the
boundary between the EEZ and state waters.
NMFS collected nonrandom samples from the coast of Maine with the
1992 and 1994 research surveys in order to map the distribution of
ocean quahogs and to examine the population size frequency
distributions. Within the 50-fathom range, ocean quahogs appear to be
restricted to a patch centered between 67 deg. and 68 deg. W.
longitude. Tows were taken to the east and west of the patch to attempt
to define the limits. The location of the patch, as defined by survey
data, agrees well with the location of recent landings. Maine is the
only area with any evidence of substantial recruitment of small quahogs
or of growth by medium-sized ocean quahogs in any region.
The 1994 stock assessment states that given the problems with the
1994 survey, it would be inappropriate to use the two surveys from
Maine to make inferences about changes in population size, because
those samples were taken
[[Page 31501]]
from nonrandom locations. In the Maine area, the population consists of
two length modes. The larger group is centered between 50-54 mm (25 mm
= 1 inch) shell length. Most clams in the smaller group measured 20-29
mm in July 1992, and 30-39 mm in August 1994. Work is currently in
progress to section these shells and estimate age and growth. The 50-54
mm long clams are estimated to be 35 to 43 years of age. The smaller
group, 30-39 mm long, are estimated to be 15 to 20 years of age.
The Council intends to address whether and how to limit entry of
commercial vessels into this fishery in Amendment 10 to the FMP. The
Council's intent in making this announcement is to discourage
speculative entry into the Maine mahogany quahog fishery while
potential management regimes to control access into the fishery are
discussed and possibly developed by the Council. The control date will
help to distinguish bona fide established fishermen from speculative
entrants to the fishery. Fishermen are notified that entering the
fishery after the control date will not assure them of future access to
the ocean quahog resource on the grounds of previous participation.
Furthermore, additional and/or other qualifying criteria also may be
applied. The Council may choose different and variably weighted methods
to qualify fishermen, based on the type and length of participation in
the fishery or on the quantity of landings. The Council may also decide
not to limit entry into this fishery after a consideration of all
reasonable alternatives for its management.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 13, 1996.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-15679 Filed 6-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F