[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40850-40851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15396]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D.062804C]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; Petition for Rulemaking; Request for Comments

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

ACTION:  Notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces receipt of a petition for rulemaking from the 
Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) and the Garden State Seafood Association 
(GSSA) (Petitioners), both of which represent participants in the 
commercial fishing industry. The Petitioners request that NMFS develop 
and implement an emergency rule pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) to 
require specific modifications to the fishing gear used by Atlantic sea 
scallop vessels fishing south of Long Island and north of Cape 
Hatteras, from May 1 through October 15. The gear measures requested 
are the installation of a chain mesh configuration (``turtle chains'') 
in dredge gear and the installation of turtle excluder devices (TEDs) 
in trawl gear. These measures would be required for any Atlantic sea 
scallop vessel, whether fishing under a Limited Access or General 
Category permit, to protect sea turtles from incidental capture.

DATES:  Comments will be accepted through August 6, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
of the e-mail comment the following identifier: Scallop Gear Petition
     Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, 
Northeast Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, One 
Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298
     Fax: 978-281-9135
    Copies of this petition may be obtained by contacting the NMFS 
Northeast Regional Office at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Peter Christopher, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9288; fax 978-281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 17, 2004, the Petitioners submitted 
a petition for rulemaking requesting that NMFS promulgate an emergency 
rule pursuant to section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The 
Petitioners assert that sea turtle captures in the scallop fishery, 
``represent a recently-emerging and relatively modest phenomenon.'' 
Petitioners state that, after incidental sea turtle captures were 
documented in 2001, the FSF began working with Dr. William DuPaul of 
the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) and Captain Ronald 
Smolowitz, a gear researcher, to design and test a chain configuration 
for the front of the scallop dredge to reduce or eliminate the catch of 
sea turtles in scallop dredges. The petition describes the 2 years of 
field trials during which the experimental dredge recorded no takes of 
sea turtles, while the control dredge recorded nine takes. The petition 
references an interim report authored by W. DuPaul, D. Rudders, and R. 
Smolowitz, ``Interim Report: Industry Trials of a Modified Sea Scallop 
Dredge to Minimize the Catch of Sea Turtles,'' VIMS Marine Research 
Report No. 2004-08 (May 2004).
    The Petitioners note that the VIMS Sea Grant Program and FSF have 
developed instruction cards for vessel captains, which set forth 
specifications for use of the turtle chains. They also have developed 
and distributed instruction cards on how to handle the dredge to reduce 
interactions with sea turtles not actually caught in the dredge and to 
minimize potential injury or mortality to any turtle brought to the 
surface.
    The Petitioners request that NMFS initiate immediately emergency 
rulemaking to require use of the modified gears and encourage adherence 
to the specifications set forth on the instruction cards, on all 
vessels fishing for sea scallops south of Long Island and north of Cape 
Hatteras. The Petitioners request that scallop dredge vessels be 
required to use ``turtle chains'' and that scallop trawl vessels be 
required to install an effective TED to fish in the specified area from 
May 1 through October 15.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA) has determined 
that the petition contains enough information to enable NMFS to 
consider the substance of the petition. NMFS will consider public 
comments received in determining whether to proceed with the 
development of the regulations requested by the Petitioners. Upon

[[Page 40851]]

determining whether to initiate the requested rulemaking, the AA will 
publish in the Federal Register a notice of the agency's final 
disposition of the Petitioner's request.

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

    Dated: June 30, 2004.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-15396 Filed 7-6-04; 8:45 am]
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