[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 67985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22364]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 051031284-5284-01; I.D. 102605B]
RIN 0648-AT64


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Atlantic; Commercial Spanish 
Mackerel Fishery of the Atlantic; 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: This notice announces the South Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council (SAFMC) is considering additional management measures to limit 
entry into the commercial fishery for Spanish mackerel in the exclusive 
economic zone of the Atlantic (South Atlantic EEZ). Possible measures 
include the establishment of a limited entry program to control 
participation or effort in the commercial Spanish mackerel fishery in 
the Atlantic. If a limited entry program is established, the SAMFC is 
considering June 15, 2004, as a possible control date.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 9, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include in the subject 
line of the e-mail comment the following document identifier: 0648-
AT64.
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Steve Branstetter, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 
263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
     Fax: 727-824-5308.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Branstetter, 727-824-5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The commercial fishery for Spanish mackerel 
in the Atlantic EEZ is managed under the Fishery Management Plan for 
the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Atlantic and Gulf of 
Mexico (FMP). The FMP was prepared jointly by the SAFMC and the Gulf of 
Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) and implemented under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act.
    The SAFMC anticipates that future action may be necessary to 
control effort in the Atlantic Spanish mackerel fishery by restricting 
the number of participants. The SAFMC has concerns about increasing 
fishing effort in the Atlantic EEZ and wants to prevent the possibility 
of the development of excess harvesting capacity for the Spanish 
mackerel fishery of the region. Should the SAFMC and GMFMC take future 
action to restrict participation in the fishery, they may use June 15, 
2004, as a possible control date. This control date would replace an 
existing control date of July 2, 1993 (58 FR 35914, July 2, 1993). 
Implementation of any program to restrict access in the Atlantic 
Spanish mackerel fishery would require preparation of an amendment to 
the FMP and publication of a notice of availability of the amendment 
with a comment period, publication of a proposed rule with a public 
comment period, approval of the amendment, and issuance of a final 
implementing rule.
    Consideration of a control date does not commit the SAFMC, GMFMC, 
or NMFS to any particular management regime or criteria for entry into 
the commercial Spanish mackerel fishery. Fishermen are not guaranteed 
future participation in a fishery regardless of their entry date or 
intensity of participation in the fishery before or after the control 
date under consideration. Use of the control date in future management 
actions would mean that anyone entering the fishery after the control 
date would not be assured of future access. Nevertheless, even 
fishermen who are permitted prior to the control date also are not 
guaranteed future participation in a fishery. The SAFMC may choose to 
give variably weighted consideration to fishermen active in the fishery 
before and after the control date. Other qualifying criteria, such as 
documentation of landings and sales, may be applied for entry into the 
fishery. The SAFMC subsequently may choose a different control date, or 
they may choose a management regime without using a control date. The 
SAFMC also may choose to take no further action to control entry or 
access to the fishery, in which case the control date may be rescinded.

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

    Dated: November 4, 2005.
James W. Balsiger,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-22364 Filed 11-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S