[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 199 (Wednesday, October 15, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53589-53591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-27297]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[I.D. 100897A]
Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery; Public hearings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
[[Page 53590]]
ACTION: Notice of public hearings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold
public hearings to receive comments on Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Sea
Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The amendment proposes to allow
a one-time transfer of days-at-sea (DAS) among vessels holding limited
access sea scallop permits, and the addition of closed area management
under the framework adjustment program.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before November 17,
1997, to the address below. Hearings are scheduled to be held from
October 24 through November 3, 1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for
dates and times of the hearings.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Paul J. Howard, Executive
Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus,
MA 01906. Clearly mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on Sea
Scallop Amendment 7 Public Hearing Document.''
The hearings will be held in Maine, North Carolina, Virginia, New
Jersey, and Massachusetts. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations
of the hearings.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
(781)-231-0422.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of DAS consolidation is to
lessen the economic impact of expected DAS reductions and other
measures developed to end the overfishing of scallops. The minimum
number of days that full-time scallop dredge operations require to
cover fixed as well as operating costs during a year is called the
break-even DAS. Under present resource conditions and with no access to
areas closed for groundfish conservation, the average break-even DAS
level for a full-time (full-use) vessel greater than 150 gross
registered tons is estimated to be 183 DAS. Therefore, many full-time
vessels will not be able to break-even when their DAS allocations are
reduced to 142 DAS or possibly lower.
The objective is to help scallop vessels remain economically
viable. By allowing days to be sold, some boat owners could leave the
scallop fishery without incurring a complete financial loss, while
fishermen buying days could add to their allocation and enhance their
economic opportunities. Reductions in fishing effort and the associated
reductions in fishing mortality, however, must remain consistent with
the conservation goals of the FMP and the requirements of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Council is
considering several alternative proposals for inclusion in Amendment 7
to the FMP.
Amendment 7 also would include closed area management in the list
of the types of measures which may be implemented through the framework
adjustment process. The proposed action would allow the Council to use
closed areas to achieve scallop management objectives. As part of this
proposal, vessel monitoring systems (VMS) would be required for all
scallop vessels fishing in or adjacent to closed areas.
The Council may want to use closed area management for the
following reasons:
Access to groundfish closed areas - Although scallop vessels have
been prohibited from fishing in these closed areas because of their
potential bycatch of groundfish and potential disruption to groundfish
spawning, the Council also is considering the impacts of the closed
areas on the currently overfished scallop resource. Additional
groundfish management concerns such as habitat will have to be
addressed before access is permitted.
Grow-out closed areas - To establish areas to protect small
scallops for a specified period of time to enhance yield per recruit.
Seeding closed areas - To establish areas to enhance the scallop
resource through the seeding of small scallops.
Spawning protection closed areas - To possibly protect grounds with
concentrations of large, relatively productive spawners by leaving them
undisturbed for a period of time.
In addition to management measures that may be implemented through
framework adjustment, the Council may consider layover days and
restrictions on landing in-shell scallops from closed areas.
Fishing Effort Consolidation Management Alternatives
The proposal identified by the Council as its preferred alternative
would allow only active DAS to be sold. Active days are the percentage
of the allocated DAS actually fished by a scallop vessel during the
period March 1, 1994, through March 1, 1997. A second alternative would
allow the sale of active DAS as well as latent DAS (those DAS allocated
to a vessel but not used).
DAS consolidation include: (1) Transfers limited to active DAS (in
blocks of 10 DAS), used from March 1994 to March 1997 and averaging the
two best fishing years, which may be traded only once until February
28, 2001, with a framework adjustment for suspension/extension of this
program. (2) Transfer may occur between different scallop limited
access categories but there will be individual vessel usage limits for
each category set at 240 DAS for full-time permits, 96 DAS for part-
time permits, and 20 DAS for occasional permits (e.g., double the year-
seven DAS allocation under the Amendment 4 schedule). (3) No
conservation tax (an automatic percentage reduction in DAS
transferred). (4)
Transferred DAS will be adjusted by the ratio of the average
horsepower of each vessel's horsepower group. The total DAS would be
adjusted, first by subtracting the DAS from the selling boat, then by
adding the adjusted DAS of the buying boat. This new total DAS will be
the baseline for all future percentage allocations of DAS. (5) DAS
trades are allowed among dredge vessels. (6) DAS trades are allowed
among net vessels. (7) Dredge vessels are allowed to buy DAS from net
vessels. (8) Net vessels are not allowed to buy DAS from dredge
vessels. (9) The number of DAS owned by an individual or an individual
business entity may be restricted to, from 1 percent to 5 percent of
the total fleet DAS. (10) Full-time vessels selling part of their DAS
may sell down to the part-time level at that time and keep their
limited access scallop permits. However, below the part-time level they
will be required to relinquish their limited access scallop permits.
These vessels may be used as replacement vessels, however, in the
scallop and other regulated fisheries. (11) Part-time and occasional
vessels may sell any and all of their DAS without relinquishing any
scallop permits.
Closed Area Alternatives
The types of measures the Council can currently implement or modify
as framework adjustments to manage scallops are: DAS changes, shell
height restrictions, off-loading windows (time periods during which
scallops may be landed), effort monitoring, data reporting, trip
limits, gear restrictions, permitting restrictions, crew limits, small
mesh line, onboard observers, and any other measure currently included
in the FMP.
Public Hearings
The dates, times, and locations of the hearings are scheduled as
follows:
[[Page 53591]]
1. October 24, 1997, 1 p.m.--Holiday Inn, U.S. Route 1 and 3,
Ellsworth, ME, telephone: 207-667-9341;
2. October 27, 1997, 6:30 p.m.--Department of Environmental and
Natural Resources, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington, NC,
telephone: 919-946-6481;
3. October 30, 1997, 1 p.m.--Holiday Inn, 3900 and Atlantic, 39th
Street, Virginia Beach, VA, telephone: 757-428-1711;
4. October 31, 1997, 1 p.m.--Grand Hotel, 1045 Beach Drive, Cape
May, NJ, telephone: 609-884-5611;
5. November 3, 1997, 1 p.m.--Seaport Inn, 110 Middle Street,
Fairhaven, MA, telephone: 508-997-1281.
Special Accommodations
These hearings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be addressed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 8, 1997.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-27297 Filed 10-14-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F