[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10478-10479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5694]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 961126330-7039-02; I.D. 110796H]
RIN: 0648-XX72
Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; 1997
Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final 1997 initial specifications.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues final initial specifications for the 1997 fishing
year for Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish (SMB). Regulations
governing these fisheries require NMFS to publish specifications for
each fishing year. This action is intended to promote the development
of the U.S. SMB fisheries.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1997, through December 31, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's
quota paper and recommendations and the Environmental Assessment are
available 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: Myles Raizin, Fishery Policy Analyst,
508-281-9104.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing the Fishery
Management Plan for Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries
(FMP) prepared by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council)
appear at 50 CFR part 648. These regulations stipulate that NMFS
publish a document specifying the initial annual amounts of the initial
optimum yield (IOY), as well as the amounts for allowable biological
catch (ABC), domestic annual harvest (DAH), domestic annual processing
(DAP), joint venture processing (JVP), and total allowable levels of
foreign fishing (TALFF) for the species managed under the FMP. No
reserves are permitted under the FMP for any of these species.
Procedures for determining the initial annual amounts are found in
Sec. 648.21.
Proposed 1997 initial specifications, requesting public comment
were published on December 11, 1996 (61 FR 65192). No public comments
were received. Therefore, the final 1997 initial specifications are
unchanged from those that were proposed. An
[[Page 10479]]
analysis of these specifications and a discussion of current Council
actions that may affect the 1997 specifications of maximum optimum
yield for Loligo and Illex squid and ABC for Atlantic mackerel are
contained in the proposed rule and are not repeated here.
The following table contains the final initial specifications for
the 1997 Atlantic mackerel, Loligo and Illex squids, and butterfish
fisheries.
Final Initial Annual Specifications For Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish for the Fishing Year January 1
Through December 31, 1997
[mt]
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Squid
Specifications -------------------------- Atlantic Butterfish
Loligo Illex mackerel
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Max OY \1\.................................................. \2\ 36,000 \3\ 30,000 N/A 16,000
ABC \4\..................................................... 21,000 19,000 \5\ 1,178,0
00 7,200
IOY......................................................... 21,000 19,000 90,000 5,900
DAH......................................................... 21,000 19,000 \6\ 90,000 5,900
DAP......................................................... 21,000 19,000 50,000 5,900
JVP......................................................... ........... ........... 25,000 ...........
TALFF....................................................... ........... ........... ........... ...........
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\1\ Maximum optimum yield (Max OY) equals Maximum Sustainable Yield.
\2\ 26,000 mt if overfishing threshold in Amendment 6 is approved.
\3\ 24,000 mt if overfishing threshold in Amendment 6 is approved.
\4\ IOY can increase to this amount.
\5\ 383,000 if overfishing definition in Council's resubmission of measures disapproved in Amendment 5 is
approved.
\6\ Contains 15,000 estimated recreational catch.
NMFS also announces that four special conditions imposed in
previous years continue to be imposed on the 1997 Atlantic mackerel
fishery as follows: (1) Joint ventures would be allowed south of
37 deg.30' N. latitude, but river herring bycatch may not exceed 0.25
percent of the over-the-side transfers of Atlantic mackerel; (2) the
Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) should
ensure that impacts on marine mammals are reduced in the prosecution of
the Atlantic mackerel fishery; (3) the mackerel OY may be increased
during the year, but the total should not exceed ABC; and (4)
applications from a particular nation for a joint venture for 1997 will
not be decided on until the Regional Administrator determines, based on
an evaluation of performances, that the nation's purchase obligations
for previous years have been fulfilled.
Classification
The Regional Administrator has determined that this final rule is
necessary for the conservation and management of the Atlantic mackerel,
squid, and butterfish fisheries and that it is consistent with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other
applicable law.
This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648, and these final
initial specifications are exempt from review under 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 discussed in the proposed rule published December 11,
1996 (61 FR 65192). No comments were received regarding this
certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not
prepared.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 3, 1997.
Nancy Foster,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-5694 Filed 3-6-97; 8:45 am]
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