[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 8, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 58037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-25510]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 000407096-0096-01; I.D. 092903B]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE) 
Multispecies Fishery; Commercial Haddock Harvest

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

ACTION: Removal of haddock trip limit.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS 
(Regional Administrator) is suspending the haddock trip limit for the 
NE multispecies fishery for the remainder of the 2003 fishing year. The 
Regional Administrator has projected that less than 75 percent of the 
haddock target total allowable catch (TAC) will be harvested for the 
2003 fishing year under the existing restrictive trip limits. This 
action is intended to allow fishermen to catch more of the haddock TAC, 
without exceeding it, and to reduce discards of haddock. Therefore, 
this action removes the haddock trip limit for the remainder of the 
2003 fishing year, through April 30, 2004.

DATES: Effective beginning October 3, 2003, through April 30, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Chinn, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9218.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Framework Adjustment 33 to the NE 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, which became effective May 1, 
2000, implemented the current haddock trip limit regulations (65 FR 
21658, April 24, 2000). To ensure that haddock landings do not exceed 
the appropriate target TAC, Framework 33 established a haddock trip 
limit of 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) per NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) 
fished, and a maximum trip limit of 30,000 lb (13,608 kg) of haddock 
for the period May 1 through September 30; and 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) of 
haddock per DAS and 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) per trip from October 1 
through April 30. Framework 33 also provided a mechanism to adjust the 
haddock trip limit based upon the percentage of TAC that is projected 
to be harvested. Section 648.86(a)(1)(iii)(B) specifies that, if the 
Regional Administrator projects that less than 75 percent of the 
haddock target TAC will be harvested in the fishing year, the haddock 
trip limit may be adjusted. Further, this section stipulates that NMFS 
will publish notification in the Federal Register informing the public 
of the date of any changes to the trip limit.
    Based on the December 2002 ``Declaration of Steven A. Murawski, 
Ph.D.'' to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,'' in 
the case Conservation Law Foundation et al. v. Evans et al., the 
Georges Bank (GB) haddock TAC calculated for the 2003 fishing year was 
18,540 mt, including both U.S. and Canadian landings. The 2003 Canadian 
quota for eastern GB haddock is 6,934 mt. The U.S. portion of the GB 
haddock target TAC for the 2003 fishing year should be approximately 
the difference between the entire GB haddock TAC and the Canadian 
quota, or 11,606 mt. Based on recent historical fishing practices, the 
Regional Administrator has projected that, under the current suspension 
of the daily landing limits, with the trip limits still in effect, GB 
haddock landings for fishing year 2003 would be about 15 million lb 
(6,804 mt), accounting for about 59 percent of the estimated 2003 
target TAC (11,606 mt). Based on data from the 2002 fishing year, the 
Regional Administrator has determined that, if trip limits were 
suspended starting in August 2003 for the remainder of the 2003 fishing 
year, GB haddock landings would be between 17.36 million lb and 24.04 
million lb, or 68 to 94 percent of the target TAC. The upper-bound 
estimation is considered extremely liberal because it treats all GB DAS 
yielding any NE multispecies in fishing year 2002 as days on which GB 
haddock would be harvested under no trip limit in fishing year 2003.
    Given that, under current management measures, less than 75 percent 
of the 2003 fishing year haddock target TAC is projected to be 
harvested by April 30, 2004, and that GB haddock landings will not 
exceed the target TAC if trip limits are suspended, the Regional 
Administrator has determined that suspending the haddock trip 
possession limits will provide the industry with the opportunity to 
harvest the target TAC for the 2003 fishing year, while minimizing 
discards of legal-sized haddock. In order to prevent the TAC from being 
exceeded, the Regional Administrator will closely monitor the GB 
haddock landings and may adjust this possession limit again through 
publication of a notification in the Federal Register, pursuant to 
Sec.  648.86(a)(1)(iii) if projections indicate that the haddock TAC 
for fishing year 2003 is likely to be exceeded.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: October 2, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-25510 Filed 10-3-03; 2:00 pm]
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