[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 42 (Friday, March 3, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10869-10870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1997]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 05120322-6051-02; I.D. 010506C]
RIN 0648-AU11


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Western Pacific Pelagic Fisheries; Guam Longline Fishing Prohibited 
Area

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to amend the geographic 
coordinates that define the longline fishing prohibited area in waters 
of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Guam. This action is 
necessary to correct an error in one of the published coordinates. The 
intended effect of this action is to accurately implement the Guam 
longline closed area.

DATES: Effective April 3, 2006.

ADDRESSES: This rule is available from William L. Robinson, 
Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands Region (PIR), 1601 Kapiolani 
Boulevard, Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814, and from the PIR web site 
http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/pir.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Harman, PIR, 808 944-2271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Federal Register document is also 
accessible via the Internet at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/publications.
    Portions of the EEZ around Guam are closed to pelagic longline 
fishing to prevent conflicts with users of other types of fishing gear. 
In 1992, NMFS published in the Federal Register a final rule that 
created a 50-nm longline closed area around Guam (57 FR 45989, October 
6, 1992); the regulations that were implemented by that final rule 
contained an error in the geographic coordinates for one of the points 
that define the closed area. NMFS published a technical amendment (59 
FR 46933, September 13, 1994) that corrected those coordinates. NMFS 
subsequently published a rule that consolidated several sections of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 50 CFR 660 (61 FR 34570, July 
2, 1996). In that rule, the geographic coordinates for the same point 
(Point ``C'') were inadvertently published with an error in 50 CFR 
660.26(d). This final rule corrects the coordinates.

Comments and Responses

    The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on January 
20, 2006 (71 FR 3254), and the comment period ended on February 21, 
2006. NMFS received no comments on the proposed rule.

Changes to the Proposed Rule

    NMFS made no changes to the proposed rule.

Classification

    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility 
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries, 
Fishing, Guam, Hawaiian Natives, Indians, Northern Mariana Islands, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: February 27, 2006.
James W. Balsiger,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,National 
Marine Fisheries Service.

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is correctly 
amended as follows:

PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES AND IN THE WESTERN 
PACIFIC

0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. In Sec.  660.26, revise the entry for Point C in the table in 
paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  660.26  Longline fishing prohibited area management.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *

[[Page 10870]]



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                           Point                                     N. lat.                    E. long.
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                                                  * * * * * * *
                  C                                                       13[deg] 41'            143[deg]33'33''
                                                  * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 06-1997 Filed 3-2-06; 8:45 am]
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