[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]                                                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        Squid                                   
                       Specifications                        --------------------------   Atlantic    Butterfish
                                                                 Loligo       Illex       mackerel              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.......................................................  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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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