[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 52 (Monday, March 19, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12749-12751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4882]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 030607C]
RIN 0648-AV39


Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea 
Scallop Fishery; Amendment 13 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan

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

ACTION:  Notice of availability of a fishery management plan amendment; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS announces that the New England Fishery Management 
Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 13 to the Atlantic Sea 
Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 13), incorporating the 
public hearing document and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(IRFA), for review by the Secretary of Commerce and is requesting 
comments from the public. The goal of Amendment 13 is to implement an 
observer service provider mechanism for the scallop fishery that would 
re-active the industry-funded observer

[[Page 12750]]

program and the scallop total allowable catch (TAC) and days-at-sea 
(DAS) set-aside program to help defray the cost of carrying observers. 
Observer coverage in the scallop fishery is necessary to monitor the 
bycatch of finfish and interactions with threatened and endangered 
species. Amendment 13 specifies criteria for observer service 
providers, observer certification, decertification, and observer 
deployment logistics. Additionally, Amendment 13 allows adjustments to 
the observer program to be done by framework action.

DATES:  Comments must be received on or before May 18, 2007.

ADDRESSES:  Copies of Amendment 13, including the public hearing 
document and the IRFA, are available from Paul J. Howard, Executive 
Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, 
Newburyport, MA 01950. These documents are also available online at 
http://www.nefmc.org. Amendment 13 is categorically excluded from the 
requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental 
impact statement.
    Written comments on Amendment 13 may be sent by any of the 
following methods:
     E-mail to the following address: 
[email protected]. Include in the subject line of the e-mail 
comment the following document identifier: ``Comments on Scallop 
Amendment 13'';
     Electronically through the Federal e-Rulemaking portal: 
http://www.regulations.gov;
     Mail to Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 
Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on Scallop Amendment 13''; 
or
     Fax to Patricia A. Kurkul, 978-281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Carrie Nordeen, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, phone 978-281-9272, fax 978-281-9135, e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At its February 6-8, 2007, meeting, the 
Council voted to adopt Amendment 13 for submission to NMFS, and 
submitted the document and associated analyses on February 16, 2007. 
The Council held one public hearing on Amendment 13 on February 7, 
2007, in Portsmouth, NH, in conjunction with the Council's February 
meeting.
    Since 1999, NMFS has required scallop vessels operating in Scallop 
Access Areas to pay for observer coverage. This provision operated 
effectively through a contractual arrangement with an observer provider 
until June 2004, when the Department of Commerce informed NMFS that it 
could not renew the contract without resolving possible conflicts with 
the Miscellaneous Receipts Act and policies regarding augmentation of 
appropriations. The contract arrangement had enabled vessel owners to 
pay the observer provider directly for observer deployments, with 
details of the observer deployment requirements specified through the 
contract. The expiration of the contract arrangement eliminated the 
mechanism allowing vessel owners to pay for observer coverage. Even 
though the mechanism allowing vessel owners to pay for observer 
coverage was inoperable, the Council continued to establish 
specifications for the scallop fishery that included observer set-
asides (catch amounts and days-at-sea (DAS), depending on fishing area) 
that could be harvested on observed trips to offset the cost to the 
industry of observers.
    Observer coverage in the scallop fishery is necessary to monitor 
groundfish bycatch, particularly yellowtail flounder bycatch in the 
Scallop Access Areas within the groundfish closed areas. It is also 
needed to monitor interactions of the scallop fishery with sea turtles. 
Through fiscal year (FY) 2005, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
(NEFSC) funded the necessary levels of observer coverage in the scallop 
fishery to evaluate bycatch of groundfish and sea turtles by utilizing 
carryover funding from FY 2004. However, in FY 2006, the NEFSC's level 
of funding for the observer program provided for only minimal observer 
coverage in the scallop fishery. This meant that observer coverage 
would be constrained to levels less than what would be necessary for 
sufficient monitoring of the yellowtail flounder bycatch total 
allowable catch (TAC) in Scallop Access Areas and interactions between 
the scallop fishery and sea turtles in the Mid-Atlantic during the June 
through October period.
    To provide for sufficient observer coverage to monitor the scallop 
fishery, NMFS re-activated the industry-funded observer program, 
wherein scallop vessels would be required to procure observer coverage 
from a certified observer provider, on June 16, 2006 (71 FR 34842), via 
emergency rule. The emergency rule was extended through June 11, 2007 
(71 FR 69073, November 29, 2006).
    To provide for observer coverage in the scallop fishery when the 
Scallop Access Areas re-open on June 15, 2007, and into the future, 
Amendment 13 proposes to permanently re-activate the industry-funded 
scallop observer program implemented in 2006 via emergency rule. Like 
the emergency rule, Amendment 13 proposes to require scallop vessels to 
procure observer coverage from a NMFS-approved observer service 
provider. This action proposes criteria to be met in order for an 
entity to be approved by NMFS as an observer service provider, and 
proposes the requirements for certified observers for the scallop 
fishery. Additionally, Amendment 13 proposes to provide a framework 
mechanism to implement adjustments to the scallop observer program. The 
current Scallop FMP requires an amendment to make adjustments to the 
observer program. Providing for a framework mechanism in the Scallop 
FMP to make adjustments would allow more flexibility to improve the 
observer program. The type of adjustments that this action proposes to 
be made via a framework action are modifications to the percent of set-
aside, adjustments to how the set-aside is allocated to vessels 
required to carry an observer, and modifications to how industry funds 
are collected and administered to cover the cost of observer coverage.
    Public comments are being solicited on Amendment 13 and its 
incorporated documents through the end of the comment period stated in 
this notice of availability. A proposed rule that would implement 
Amendment 13 may be published in the Federal Register for public 
comment, following NMFS's evaluation of the proposed rule under the 
procedures of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation 
Act. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by the end 
of the comment period provided in this notice of availability of 
Amendment 13 to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on 
the amendment. All comments received by May 18, 2007, whether 
specifically directed to Amendment 13 or the proposed rule, will be 
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendment 13. 
Comments received after that date will not be considered in the 
decision to approve or disapprove Amendment 1. To be considered, 
comments must be received by close of business on the last day of the 
comment period; that does not mean postmarked or otherwise transmitted 
by that date.

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


[[Page 12751]]


    Dated: March 13, 2007.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-4882 Filed 3-16-07; 8:45 am]
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