[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2619-2621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1204]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 961105310-6374-02; I.D. 102396A]
RIN 0648-AJ31


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Framework Adjustment 17

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement Framework Adjustment 
17 and to correct the regulations implementing Amendment 7 to the 
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Framework 17 
restores unused days-at-sea (DAS) to vessels enrolled in the DAS 
effort-control call-in system that fished less than one-sixth of their 
Amendment 7 DAS allocation during the months of May and June 1996. The 
intent of this rule is to provide vessels with their full Amendment 7 
allocation of DAS and to correct an inadvertent omission in a previous 
rule.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 14, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 7 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery 
Management Plan (Amendment 7), its regulatory impact review (RIR) and 
the final regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) contained within the 
RIR, its final supplemental environmental impact statement, and 
Framework Adjustment 17 documents are available upon request from 
Christopher B. Kellogg, Acting Executive Director, New England Fishery 
Management Council (Council), 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan A. Murphy, NMFS, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 508-281-9252.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Amendment 7 to the FMP (61 FR 27710, May 31, 
1996) became effective on July 1, 1996, and implemented reductions in 
DAS for vessels already under the effort-control system. During the 
developmental stages of Amendment 7, it became clear that the New 
England Fishery Management Council (Council) would be unable to submit 
the amendment in time for it to be implemented before the May 1 start 
of the new fishing year. To address this situation, the Council agreed 
to prorate DAS to adjust for the gap between the

[[Page 2620]]

start of the fishing year and the implementation date of the revised 
allocations. However, because this had the unintended effect of 
assessing a prorated number of DAS, regardless of whether the DAS were 
actually used, and because the call-in system is in place to assess 
actual DAS used, the Council opted, through Framework 17, to use the 
actual method for those vessels subject to the call-in system in May 
and June. Further details concerning justification for and development 
of Framework Adjustment 17 were provided in the notice of proposed 
rulemaking (61 FR 58365, November 14, 1996) and are not repeated here.
    This framework restores unused DAS (up to one-sixth of the full-
year allocation) to vessels enrolled in the call-in system in May and 
June 1996, and that did not record more than one-sixth of their full-
year allocation. Since these vessels (vessels holding a 1996 Amendment 
5 multispecies permit in the Individual, Fleet, or Combination Vessel 
categories) had the opportunity to request a change in permit category, 
provided that the application was completed and sent to the Regional 
Administrator by August 15, 1996, the restoration of DAS will be 
calculated based on the permit category held by the vessel on August 
16, 1996.
    This rule also adds surf clam and ocean quahog dredge gear to the 
definition of exempted gear with respect to the NE multispecies fishery 
(i.e., gear that is deemed not capable of catching multispecies). This 
gear was inadvertently excluded from the definition in the final rule 
for Amendment 7, which created an inconsistency with the final 
Amendment 7 document.

Comments and Responses

    Comment: Associated Fisheries of Maine, Maine Fishermen's Wives 
Association, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., Senators Olympia J. Snowe 
and William S. Cohen, and one individual submitted written comments in 
support of Framework 17. The commenters asserted that the proposed rule 
to Amendment 7 did not explain how DAS would be prorated and, 
consequently, was interpreted by many to mean that DAS would be 
prorated only for those vessels that were not under the call-in system 
previous to Amendment 7. Because of this interpretation, one commenter 
stated that many vessels reserved their DAS in May and June for periods 
of time throughout the year that are traditionally more profitable to 
fish. Several others stated that it would create a financial hardship 
if their unused DAS were not restored.
    Response: With the approval of Framework Adjustment 17, DAS will 
automatically be restored to vessels enrolled in the call-in system 
that fished less than one-sixth of their Amendment 7 allocation during 
the months of May and June 1996.

Classification

    In addition to the restoration of unused DAS for which prior notice 
and opportunity for public comment was provided, this rule corrects a 
provision for which full prior notice and opportunity for comment were 
provided during the development and implementation of Amendment 7. 
Therefore, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), under 
5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), finds that additional prior notice and opportunity 
for public comment is unnecessary.
    Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), both provisions of this rule are not 
subject to a delay in effectiveness because they relieve restrictions 
on the fishing industry.
    This final 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 rule would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The reasons were published in the notice of proposed rulemaking for 
Framework Adjustment 17. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis 
was not prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: January 13, 1997.
Charles Karnella,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended 
as follows:

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

    1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec. 648.2, the definition for ``Exempted gear'' is revised 
to read as follows:


Sec. 648.2  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Exempted gear, with respect to the NE multispecies fishery, means 
gear that is deemed to be not capable of catching NE multispecies and 
includes: Pelagic hook and line, pelagic longline, spears, rakes, 
diving gear, cast nets, tongs, harpoons, weirs, dipnets, stop nets, 
pound nets, pelagic gillnets, pots and traps, purse seines, shrimp 
trawls (with a properly configured grate as defined under this part), 
surf clam and ocean quahog dredges, and midwater trawls.
* * * * *
    3. In Sec. 648.82, paragraphs (b)(1)(i), (b)(2)(i), (b)(5)(i), and 
(b)(7)(i) are revised, and paragraph (j) is added to read as follows:


Sec. 648.82  Effort-control program for limited access vessels.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Individual DAS 
category shall be allocated 65 percent of its initial 1994 allocation 
baseline, as established under Amendment 5 to the NE Multispecies FMP, 
multiplied by the proration factor of 0.833 for the 1996 fishing year, 
unless a vessel qualifies for a restoration of DAS under paragraph (j) 
of this section, and 50 percent of its initial allocation baseline for 
the 1997 fishing year and beyond, as calculated under paragraph (d)(1) 
of this section.
* * * * *
    (2) * * *
    (i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Fleet DAS category 
shall be allocated 116 DAS (139 DAS multiplied by the proration factor 
of 0.833) for the 1996 fishing year, unless a vessel qualifies for a 
restoration of DAS under paragraph (j) of this section, and 88 DAS for 
the 1997 fishing year and beyond.
* * * * *
    (5) * * *
    (i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Combination Vessel 
category shall be allocated 65 percent of its initial 1994 allocation 
baseline, as established under Amendment 5 to the NE Multispecies FMP, 
multiplied by the proration factor of 0.833 for the 1996 fishing year, 
unless a vessel qualifies for a restoration of DAS under paragraph (j) 
of this section, and 50 percent of its initial allocation baseline for 
the 1997 fishing year and beyond, as calculated under paragraph (d)(1) 
of this section.
* * * * *
    (7) * * *
    (i) DAS allocation. A vessel fishing under the Large Mesh Fleet DAS 
category shall be allocated 129 DAS (155 DAS multiplied by the 
proration factor of 0.833) for the 1996 fishing year,

[[Page 2621]]

unless a vessel qualifies for a restoration of DAS under paragraph (j) 
of this section, and 120 DAS for the 1997 fishing year, and beyond. To 
be eligible to fish under the Large Mesh Fleet DAS category, a vessel 
while fishing under this category must fish with gillnet gear with a 
minimum mesh size of 7-inch (17.78-cm) diamond mesh or trawl gear with 
a minimum mesh size of 8-inch (20.32-cm) diamond mesh, as described 
under Sec. 648.80(a)(2)(ii), (b)(2)(ii), and (c)(2)(ii).
* * * * *
    (j) Restoration of unused DAS. Vessels that held valid 1996 
Amendment 5 NE multispecies permits in the Individual, Fleet or 
Combination Vessel categories are eligible for restoration of unused 
DAS if DAS fished during May and June 1996 was less than one-sixth of 
their 1996 Amendment 7 allocation. Restoration of DAS will be based on 
the NE multispecies permit category held on August 16, 1996. These 
vessels will be automatically credited with DAS equal to the difference 
between the proration reduction and their DAS fished during May and 
June 1996, as recorded in the NMFS call-in system specified at 
Sec. 648.10(c) (or on other verifiable evidence of days spent fishing 
for multispecies). If the number of DAS fished during this time period 
exceeded the proration reduction amount, those days will not be 
subtracted from a vessel's 1996 allocation.
[FR Doc. 97-1204 Filed 1-14-97; 4:13 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F