[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 1, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5555-5556]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2200]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

RIN 0648-AX70


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Monkfish; Amendment 
5

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 
(NEFMC) has submitted Amendment 5 to the Monkfish Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP) (Amendment 5), incorporating a draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), 
for review by the Secretary of Commerce. NMFS is requesting comments 
from the public on Amendment 5, which was developed by the New England 
and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils) to bring the 
Monkfish FMP into compliance with the annual catch limit (ACL) and 
accountability measure (AM) requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES: Public comments must be received on or before April 4, 2011.

ADDRESSES: A draft EA was prepared for Amendment 5 that describes the 
proposed action and other considered alternatives, and provides a 
thorough analysis of the impacts of the proposed measures and 
alternatives. Copies of Amendment 5, including the draft EA and the 
IRFA, are available on request from Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council (Council), 50 Water Street, 
Newburyport, MA 01950. These documents are also available online at 
http://www.nefmc.org.
    You may submit comments, identified by 0648-AX70, by any one of the 
following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Allison McHale.
     Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on Monkfish 
Amendment 5.''
    Instructions: No comments will be posted for public viewing until 
after the comment period has closed. All comments received are part of 
the public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 
the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential 
business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
    NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required 
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to 
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF 
file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison McHale, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9103; fax: (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The monkfish fishery is jointly managed by the Councils, with the 
NEFMC having the administrative lead. The fishery extends from Maine to 
North Carolina, and is divided into two management units: The Northern 
Fishery Management Area (NFMA) and the Southern Fishery Management Area 
(SFMA).
    The Councils developed Amendment 5 with the primary goal of 
bringing the

[[Page 5556]]

Monkfish FMP into compliance with the requirements of the reauthorized 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act contains several new requirements including the requirement that 
all fisheries adopt ACLs to prevent overfishing, and measures to ensure 
accountability.
    Amendment 5 was also developed to bring the Monkfish FMP into 
compliance with recently revised National Standard 1 (NS1) Guidelines 
(74 FR 3178; January 16, 2009) which not only establish a process for 
setting ACLs and guidance for establishing AMs, but also provides 
updated guidelines for establishing reference points and control rules 
(i.e., maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimum yield (OY), overfishing 
limits (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), ACLs, and annual catch 
targets (ACTs)) and clarifies the relationships among them. Amendment 5 
would establish biological and management reference points to be 
consistent with NS1 guidelines utilizing recent scientific information 
from the 2007 Northeast Data Poor Stocks Working Group assessment.
    In addition to establishing revised biological and management 
reference points, ACLs, and AMs for the monkfish fishery, Amendment 5 
also proposes measures intended to promote efficiency and reduce waste 
in the monkfish fishery. First, a measure is being proposed that would 
minimize regulatory discards resulting from monkfish trip limit 
overages by allowing vessels to land an additional trip limit (one 
day's worth) and have their DAS usage for that trip adjusted to account 
for the overage. Second, a measure is being proposed that would allow 
the landing of monkfish heads separate from the body by adding a new 
conversion factor and authorized landing form to the FMP. Lastly, a 
measure is being proposed in Amendment 5 that would enable changes to 
be made to the Monkfish RSA Program through a framework adjustment 
versus an FMP amendment.
    Public comments are being solicited on Amendment 5 and its 
incorporated documents through the end of the comment period stated in 
this notice of availability. A proposed rule that would implement 
Amendment 5 will be published in the Federal Register for public 
comment. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by the 
end of the comment period provided in this notice of availability of 
Amendment 5 to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on 
the amendment. All comments received by April 4, 2011, whether 
specifically directed to Amendment 5 or the proposed rule for Amendment 
5, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendment 
5. Comments received after that date will not be considered in the 
decision to approve or disapprove Amendment 5. To be considered, 
comments must be received by close of business on the last day of the 
comment period.

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

    Dated: January 26, 2011.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-2200 Filed 1-31-11; 8:45 am]
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