[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 15, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7508-7509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3552]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 000204026-0026-01; I.D. 121799A]
RIN 0648-AN48


Tautog; Interstate Fishery Management Plans

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

ACTION: Notice of determination of noncompliance; notice of declaration 
of a moratorium.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative 
Management Act of 1993 (Act), 16 U.S.C. 5101 et seq., the Secretary of 
Commerce (Secretary) has determined that the State of Rhode Island is 
not in compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission's (Commission) Interstate Fishery Management Plan (ISFMP) 
for tautog and has failed to implement measures necessary for the 
conservation of the fishery in question. Pursuant to the Act, a Federal 
moratorium on fishing for tautog within Rhode Island state waters to be 
effective on June 15, 2000, if Rhode Island does not come into 
compliance with the ISFMP for tautog by June 1, 2000, is hereby 
declared. The purpose of this action is to support and encourage the 
development, implementation, and enforcement of the Commission's ISFMPs 
to conserve and manage Atlantic coastal fishery resources.

DATES: The moratorium will become effective on June 15, 2000, through a 
separate rule unless, by June 1, 2000, the State of Rhode Island adopts 
and implements measures to return to compliance with the Commission's 
ISFMP for tautog. If the State of Rhode Island adopts and implements 
the measures required by the ISFMP for tautog, the Secretary will 
publish an appropriate announcement in the Federal Register rescinding 
the moratorium with respect to the State.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard H. Schaefer, Chief, Staff 
Office for Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries, NMFS, 301-427-
2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Act was enacted to support and encourage the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of the Commission's ISFMPs to conserve 
and

[[Page 7509]]

manage Atlantic coastal fishery resources. Section 807 of the Act 
specifies that, after notification by the Commission that an Atlantic 
coastal state is not in compliance with an ISFMP of the Commission, the 
Secretary shall make a finding, no later than 30 days after receipt of 
the Commission's notification, on: (1) Whether the state has failed to 
carry out its responsibilities to implement and enforce the 
Commission's ISFMP; and (2) whether the measures that the state has 
failed to implement and enforce are necessary for the conservation of 
the fishery in question. In making such a finding, the Act requires the 
Secretary to give careful consideration to the comments of the 
Commission, the Atlantic coastal state found out of compliance by the 
Commission, and the appropriate Regional Fishery Management Councils. 
If the Secretary finds that the state is not in compliance with the 
Commission's ISFMP, and if the measures the state has failed to 
implement are necessary for the conservation of the fishery, the Act 
requires the Secretary to declare a moratorium on fishing in that 
fishery within the waters of the noncomplying state. The Secretary 
shall specify the moratorium's effective date, which must be any date 
within 6 months after the declaration of the moratorium.

Activities Pursuant to the Act

    On November 19, 1999, the Secretary received a letter from the 
Commission prepared pursuant to section 806(b) of the Act. The 
Commission's letter stated that the State of Rhode Island's tautog 
regulations did not meet the provisions of the Commission's ISFMP, and, 
therefore, the Commission found the State of Rhode Island out of 
compliance with the ISFMP as described here:

Commission Findings on Tautog

    The Commission found that the State of Rhode Island has not 
implemented and is not enforcing the Commission's ISFMP for tautog 
because it has failed to adopt recreational bag limits for tautog that 
can be effectively evaluated by the Commission as meeting the mortality 
reduction requirements of the ISFMP.
    Under the ISFMP, states are required to implement and enforce 
management measures that will achieve an interim fishing mortality 
target of F=0.24, with an ultimate target of F=0.15.
    To meet these targets, the ISFMP recommends that possession and 
seasonal limits be imposed which are consistent for all recreational 
fishing modes. Rhode Island's recreational bag limits for tautog differ 
between fishing modes. Upon review of Rhode Island's analysis of its 
management plan, the Commission's Tautog Technical Committee determined 
that there was insufficient quantitative data available to effectively 
determine whether the State's management plan met the overall mortality 
targets of the Commission's ISFMP. Since the mortality targets of the 
ISFMP are essential to the conservation of the tautog resource, and it 
could not be determined whether these targets would be achieved under 
Rhode Island's current management scheme, the Commission found that the 
State is not in compliance with the ISFMP.
    The Commission's letter also suggested that the Secretary use his 
discretionary authority under the Act to delay the date of the 
moratorium for up to 6 months, because the State of Rhode Island is 
making an effort to come into compliance. The letter stated that Rhode 
Island is taking action to be in compliance with the Commission ISFMP 
for tautog by the start of the 2000 tautog season (May 2000).

Determination Regarding Compliance by the State of Rhode Island

    Based on a careful analysis of all relevant information, and taking 
into account comments presented by the State of Rhode Island and the 
New England Fishery Management Council, the Secretary has determined 
that the State of Rhode Island is not in compliance with the 
Commission's ISFMP for tautog. This determination is based on Rhode 
Island's failure to adopt recreational bag limits for tautog that can 
be effectively evaluated by the Commission as meeting the mortality 
reduction requirements of the ISFMP. Therefore, Rhode Island must 
implement and enforce a recreational bag limit consistent with the 
ISFMP in order to come back into compliance. Further, the Secretary has 
determined that implementation and enforcement of a recreational bag 
limit that can be shown to meet the fishing mortality targets is 
necessary for the conservation of the resource. Although the State of 
Rhode Island is not in compliance with the Commission's ISFMP for 
tautog, because Rhode Island is making expeditious efforts to 
promulgate regulations that would bring the state into compliance by 
the start of the 2000 tautog season (May 2000), the Secretary is 
delaying implementation of the moratorium until June 15, 2000. If the 
State of Rhode Island adopts and implements measures bringing the state 
into compliance, the Secretary will publish an appropriate announcement 
in the Federal Register rescinding the moratorium with respect to the 
State of Rhode Island. If the State of Rhode Island has not promulgated 
appropriate regulations by June 1, 2000, NMFS will issue a rule 
implementing the moratorium effective June 15, 2000. Delaying the 
effective date of the moratorium until June 15, 2000, will not 
significantly diminish tautog conservation efforts because the 
recreational bag limit at issue in this action would not go into effect 
until October 2000, and the State currently has in place bag limits 
that meet the conservation goals of the ISFMP.
    NMFS will notify the Governor of Rhode Island of this action. If 
the moratorium goes into effect, the Secretary will terminate it 
immediately upon receipt of notification from the Commission that the 
State has taken appropriate remedial actions to bring it into 
compliance with the ISFMP, and if the Secretary concurs with the 
Commission.

    Dated: February 9, 2000.
Andrew A. Rosenberg,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-3552 Filed 2-14-00; 8:45 am]
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