[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 242 (Wednesday, December 17, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66049-66050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32865]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 971208290-7290-01; I.D. 112097C]
RIN 0648-AK51


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Northern Anchovy Fishery; Control Date

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of a 
control date.

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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is developing 
an amendment to the Northern Anchovy Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that 
may place small coastal pelagic species under Federal management along 
with northern anchovy. Proposed management options include limiting 
effort by controlling the number and/or capacity of vessels harvesting 
coastal pelagic resources off Washington, Oregon, and California. This 
notice is intended to notify fishermen that anyone entering the coastal 
pelagics fishery after November 5, 1997, may not be eligible to 
continue participating in the fishery under the new amendment.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by January 16, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, 
2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James J. Morgan, (562) 980-4036, 
or Mr. Svein Fougner, Acting Chief, Fisheries Management Division, 
(562) 980-4034.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The current draft of the amendment to the 
FMP would add the following species to the management unit: Pacific 
mackerel

[[Page 66050]]

(Scomber japonicus), jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus), Pacific 
sardine (Sardinops sagax), market squid (Loligo opalescen), Pacific 
saury (Cololabis saira), and Pacific bonito (Sarda chiliensis). One of 
the management options to be considered in the amendment is controlling 
fishing effort by limiting the number and/or capacity of vessels 
harvesting coastal pelagics to levels that are economically efficient. 
If too many vessels enter a fishery, the profit for each fisherman 
dwindles, management and enforcement becomes more difficult and costly, 
the private investment needed by each fisherman to maintain an adequate 
share of the harvest rises, and the pressure to raise harvest levels 
increases. To keep harvesting capacity in line with the resources 
available, various limited access systems will be analyzed.
    The first step in evaluating a system by which the number of 
participants can be limited is to identify the current participants. 
Although the decision has not been made on whether vessels, vessel 
operators, or owners of vessels will be considered ``current 
participants,'' the Council, at its meeting in Portland, OR, on 
November 5, 1997, adopted the control date of November 5, 1997, for 
defining participants in the fishery. Therefore, a fisherman would have 
to have landed coastal pelagic species on or before November 5, 1997, 
to be considered a current participant in this fishery. Fishermen are 
put on notice that anyone entering the coastal pelagics fishery after 
this date might not be issued a permit to continue participating in the 
fishery if a limited access option is adopted for coastal pelagic 
resources. This decision by the Council rescinds the earlier control 
date for this fishery of November 13, 1991, which was published in the 
Federal Register on January 16, 1992 (57 FR 1899).
    The control date does not commit the Council or NMFS to any 
particular management regime or criteria for entry into the coastal 
pelagics fishery. Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in 
this fishery, regardless of their entry date or intensity of 
participation before or after the control date. The Council may 
subsequently choose a different control date or it may choose a 
management regime that does not make use of such a date. Other 
qualifying criteria, such as documentation of commercial landings and 
sales, may be necessary for entry.

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

    Dated: December 10, 1997.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-32865 Filed 12-16-97; 8:45 am]
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