[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 166 (Monday, August 26, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43725-43727]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21553]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 960520141-6224-03; I.D. 073096D]
RIN: 0648-AH05


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 8 to the 
Summer Flounder and Scup Fishery Management Plan; Resubmission of 
Disapproved Measures

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 issues this proposed rule to implement three provisions 
of Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Summer 
Flounder and Scup Fisheries that were initially disapproved, but that 
have been revised and resubmitted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council (Council). These measures would: Establish criteria 
under which vessels under construction or being rerigged for the scup 
fishery on January 26, 1993, could qualify for a moratorium permit, 
define scup pots and traps, and require the consideration of 
recreational landings in the process of setting annual recreational 
harvest limits. The intent of Amendment 8 is to reduce fishing 
mortality and allow the stock to rebuild.

DATES: Public comments must be received on or before September 16, 
1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposed rule should be sent to Dr. Andrew 
A. Rosenberg, Director, Northeast Regional Office, NMFS, One Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, 
``Comments on the Resubmitted Portion of the Summer Flounder and Scup 
Plan.''
    Comments regarding burden-hour estimates for collection-of- 
information requirements contained in this proposed rule should be sent 
to the Director, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Director), at the 
address above and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, D.C. 20502 
(Attention: NOAA Desk Officer).
    Copies of the resubmitted portion of Amendment 8 and other 
supporting documents are available upon request from David R. Keifer, 
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, 
Federal Building, 300 South New Street, Dover, DE 19901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 508-281-9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Council submitted Amendment 8 to the FMP on April 23, 1996. 
NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, disapproved six measures 
proposed in Amendment 8 upon preliminary evaluation of the amendment as 
authorized under section 304(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Magnuson Fishery 
Management and Conservation Act (Magnuson Act). The measures, which 
were found to be inconsistent with the national standards and other 
applicable law, would have: (1) Conferred moratorium permit eligibility 
upon vessels that were rerigging on January 26, 1993, and landed scup 
prior to the implementation of the FMP, (2) required vessels to keep 
scup catches of less than 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) (the level at which the 
minimum mesh requirement is triggered) in 100-lb (45.36 kg) boxes to 
enhance enforcement, (3) accepted state dealer permits in lieu of the 
required Federal permit, (4) denied access to the exclusive economic 
zone to vessels from states that do not implement recreational measures 
equivalent to those specified in the Federal plan, (5) used state 
regulations to define scup pots for the residents of that state, and 
(6) established annual recreational

[[Page 43726]]

harvest limits and deducted catches in excess of those limits from the 
limits for the following year. The remainder of Amendment 8 was 
published as a proposed rule on June 3, 1996 (61 FR 27851).
    The Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's 
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board met on May 15, 1996, to 
review the disapproved measures and, pursuant to section 304(b)(3)(A) 
of the Magnuson Act, voted to revise and resubmit three provisions: The 
rerigging measure, the scup pot and trap definition, and the annual 
recreational harvest limit. The remaining disapproved measures were not 
resubmitted.

Proposed Measures

Rerigging Measure

    For the purposes of moratorium eligibility, the resubmitted 
provision would require that a vessel under construction for, or being 
rerigged for, use in the directed fishery for scup on January 26, 1993, 
to have landed scup for sale by January 26, 1994. For the purpose of 
this paragraph, ``under construction'' would mean that the keel had 
been laid or the vessel was under written agreement for construction or 
the vessel was under written contract for purchase. ``Being rerigged'' 
would mean physical alteration of the vessel or its gear had begun to 
transform the vessel into one capable of fishing commercially for scup.

Scup Pot and Trap Definition

    Scup pots and traps would be defined as pots or traps catching and 
retaining scup. Harvesters would be required to identify such gear with 
numbers assigned by the Regional Director and/or identification 
markings as required by the vessel's home port state.

Annual Harvest Limit

    In the second year of implementation of the amendment, a coastwide 
harvest limit would be specified at a level that would reduce the 
exploitation rate to the level specified in the rebuilding schedule. 
This harvest limit would be allocated 78 percent to the commercial 
fishery, via a coastwide commercial quota, and 22 percent to the 
recreational fishery, via a recreational harvest limit. The coastwide 
harvest limit would be set annually following the Monitoring Committee 
process set forth in the amendment. Any landings in excess of the 
target harvest level would be considered in the process of setting 
recreational harvest regulations in the following year.

Classification

    Section 304(a)(1)(D)(ii) of the Magnuson Act, as amended, requires 
NMFS to publish regulations proposed by a Council within 15 days of 
receipt of the amendment and proposed regulations. At this time, NMFS 
has not determined whether the measures that this rule would implement 
are consistent with the national standards, other provisions of the 
Magnuson Act, and other applicable law. NMFS, in making that 
determination, will take into account the information, views, and 
comments received during the comment period.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
the 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 regarding the resubmitted measures in 
proposed Amendment 8 as follows:

    I certify that the attached proposed rule issued under authority 
section 304(a) of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. The proposed measures are not 
significantly modified from the original submitted measures analyzed 
as part of the Amendment 8 package, which was found not to have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The proposed modified measures fall within the scope of 
measures previously analyzed, so the certification remains 
unchanged. The proposed rule would revise and implement three of the 
six disapproved measures contained in Amendment 8 to the FMP. The 
measures contained in the resubmission would: (1) Confer moratorium 
permit eligibility upon vessels that were re-rigging on January 26, 
1993, and land scup prior to January 26, 1994; (2) define a scup pot 
or trap as any scup pot or trap used by fishermen to catch and 
retain scup; and (3) establish that any landings in excess of the 
specified recreational harvest limit would be considered in the 
process of setting recreational harvest regulations in later years.
    The resubmitted rerigging provision is the only measure that 
requires elaboration. The resubmitted measure is the same as those 
in the other vessel permit moratoria administered to date in the 
Northeast Region. It is intended to address the circumstance of a 
vessel owner who took a definite action on a specified date to 
construct or substantially rerig a vessel in order to participate in 
a moratorium fishery. Because these owners can demonstrate that they 
took such action, they are given an additional 12-month period to 
satisfy the requirement that they submit proof that the vessel 
actually landed the required species to qualify for the moratorium 
fishery. In past moratoria, such as Northeast multispecies and 
summer flounder, the provision has been applicable in a relatively 
limited number of cases and that is expected to be the case in the 
scup moratorium as well. Based on our past experience with Northeast 
multispecies and, especially, summer flounder, the number of 
applicants affected by the provision is expected to be within a 
small range of 4 to 10 vessels. Therefore, no additional analysis is 
needed.

    This proposed rule contains collection-of-information requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The requirement to mark 
traps and pots has been approved by OMB, OMB Control Number 0648-0305. 
The marking of traps and pots is estimated to take 1 minute per trap or 
pot.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.
    The response estimates shown include the time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information. Send comments regarding any of these burden 
estimates or any other aspect of the collection of information to NMFS 
and OMB (see ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 19, 1996.
C. Karnella,
Acting Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

    1. In Sec. 648.2, the definition for ``Scup pot or trap'' is added 
in alphabetical order to read as follows:


Sec. 648.2  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Scup pot or trap means a pot or trap catching and retaining scup.
* * * * *
    2. In Sec. 648.4, paragraph, (a)(6)(i)(A)(3) is added to read as 
follows:


Sec. 648.4  Vessel permits.

    (a) * * *
    (6) * * * (i) * * * (A) * * *
    (3) The vessel was under construction for, or was being rerigged 
for, use in the directed fishery for scup on January 26,

[[Page 43727]]

1993, provided the vessel landed scup for sale by January 26, 1994.
* * * * *
    3. In Sec. 648.14, paragraph (k)(12) is added to read as follows:


Sec. 648.14  Prohibitions.

* * * * *
    (k) * * *
    (12) Use a scup trap or pot that does not have identification as 
specified in Sec. 648.123(b)(3).
* * * * *
    4. In Sec. 648.123, paragraph (b)(3) is added to read as follows:


Sec. 648.123  Gear restrictions.

    (a) * * *
    (b) * * *
    (3) Pot and trap identification. Pots or traps used in fishing for 
scup must be marked with the number assigned by the Regional Director 
and/or identification marking as required by the vessel's home port 
state.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-21553 Filed 8-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F