[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 25, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14388-14389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7068]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 030314059-3059-01; I.D. 030603B]
RIN: 0648-AQ48


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Small Mesh Multispecies Fishery; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; notice of a new control 
date for the purpose of controlling entry in the small-mesh 
multispecies fishery.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is considering, and is seeking public 
comment on, proposed rulemaking to control future access to the small 
mesh multispecies (silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis; red hake, 
Urophycis chuss; offshore hake, Merluccius albidus) resources if a 
management regime is developed and implemented under the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
that limits the number of participants in the fishery. This 
announcement is intended, in part, to promote awareness of potential 
eligibility criteria for future access to the small mesh multispecies 
fishery and to discourage speculative entry into the fishery while the 
New England Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider 
whether and how access to the small-mesh multispecies fishery should be 
controlled. The date of publication of this document, March 25, 2003, 
shall be known as the ``control date'' and may be used for establishing 
eligibility criteria for determining levels of future access to the 
small mesh multispecies fishery subject to Federal authority. 
Participants who enter the small mesh multispecies fishery on or after 
March 25, 2003 may be treated differently than those with a history in 
the fishery before this date. The establishment of this control date 
does not prevent any other control date for eligibility in the fishery 
or another method of controlling access and/or fishing effort on small 
mesh multispecies from being proposed and implemented by the Council 
and NMFS.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before 5:00 p.m., local 
time, April 24, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Paul Howard, Executive 
Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 
2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments 
on Small Mesh Multispecies Control Date.'' Comments also may be sent 
via facsimile (fax) to (978) 465-3116. Comments will not be accepted if 
submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: E. Martin Jaffe, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9272.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A control date for the silver hake, offshore 
hake, and red hake fisheries was established on September 9, 1996 (61 
FR 47473), to promote awareness of potential eligibility criteria for 
future access to the small mesh fishery and to discourage new entry 
into the fishery. The Council used this control date to develop a 
proposed limited access program for this fishery included in Amendment 
12 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), a 
management program for small mesh multispecies that was implemented on 
April 28, 2000. The Amendment 12 limited access program for small mesh 
multispecies was later disapproved by NMFS because it was found to be 
inconsistent with some of the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
As a result, the small mesh multispecies fishery remains an open-access 
fishery.
    The Council intends to develop a new amendment to address limited 
access in the small- mesh multispecies fishery. The Council is 
concerned that conditions have changed sufficiently in this fishery to 
make the September 1996 control date an unreliable indicator of current 
participation. A new control date would reflect current participation

[[Page 14389]]

levels, should the Council require such a benchmark when developing a 
new limited access program.
    The Whiting Monitoring Committee (WMC) recommended that the Council 
consider establishing a new control date for small mesh multispecies 
because circumstances in Northeast fisheries have changed since the 
establishment of the September 1996 control date. Amendment 5 to the 
FMP prevented fishing with small mesh in the northern stock area until 
exempted fisheries could be established that reduce the bycatch of 
regulated multispecies to less than 5 percent. Since implementation of 
Amendment 5 in 1994, experimental and exempted fisheries for small mesh 
multispecies in the northern stock area have evolved through 
cooperative experimentation, gear research, and gear technologies that 
significantly reduce bycatch of non-target species, especially 
regulated multispecies. Many of these technologies took years to 
develop and, as a result, the 1996 control date does not capture 
current levels of participation or fishing practices in the small mesh 
multispecies fishery, especially in the northern stock area. Therefore, 
it is unlikely that the Council would utilize a dated control date in 
the development of a new limited access program for small mesh 
multispecies. A new control date is more likely to be utilized in a 
limited access program because it would capture current participation 
in the small mesh multispecies fishery and provide a more suitable 
benchmark.
    This notice establishes March 25, 2003 as the new control date for 
potential use in determining historical or traditional participation in 
the small mesh multispecies fishery. Consideration of a control date 
does not commit the Council or NMFS to develop any particular 
management regime or criteria for participation in this fishery. The 
Council or NMFS may choose a different control date, or may choose a 
management program that does not make use of such a date.
    Fishermen who have not participated in the small mesh multispecies 
fishery or change their level of participation in this fishery are 
notified that entering this fishery or changing their level of 
participation after this control date may not qualify them as previous 
participants, should such a criterion be the basis for future access to 
the small mesh multispecies resources. Fishermen are not guaranteed 
future participation in the fishery, regardless of their entry dates or 
intensity of participation in this fishery before or after the control 
date. The Council and NMFS may choose to give variably weighted 
consideration to fishermen active in the fishery before and after the 
control date. The Council and NMFS may also choose to take no further 
action to control entry or access to the fishery, in which case the 
control date may be rescinded. Any action by the Council or NMFS will 
be taken pursuant to the requirements for FMP development established 
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    Establishing a new control date for the small mesh multispecies 
fishery may help to discourage an influx of new participants as a 
short-term response to the restrictions expected to be implemented 
under Amendment 13 to the FMP. This could aid in preventing rapid stock 
declines and help keep the fishery viable for current and historical 
participants. The 2002 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report, 
prepared by the WMC, expressed concern that effort may increase in the 
small mesh multispecies fishery as a result of increasing restrictions 
in other fisheries, such as the large mesh multispecies (groundfish) 
fishery, which are currently under development by the Council.
    This notification also gives the public notice that interested 
participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and 
verify their participation in the small mesh multispecies fishery in 
Federal waters.

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

    Dated: March 19, 2003.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-7068 Filed 3-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S