[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 23, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72382-72383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30268]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

RIN 0648-XA823


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Electronic Dealer Reporting 
System Workshop

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

ACTION: Notice of public workshop.

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SUMMARY: On June 28, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule that 
considered requiring, among other things, Federal Atlantic swordfish, 
shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealers reporting Atlantic bluefin 
tuna) to report commercially-harvested Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and 
bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack (BAYS) tunas to NMFS through 
one centralized electronic reporting system. This electronic reporting 
system would allow dealers to submit Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and 
BAYS tuna data on a more real-time basis and more efficiently, which 
will reduce duplicative data submissions from different regions. NMFS 
proposed to delay the effective date of the electronic reporting 
requirements until 2012 in order to give sufficient time for dealers to 
adjust to implementation of the new system and the additional 
requirements. In this notice, NMFS announces the date and location for 
an upcoming workshop in the Caribbean area in order to introduce the 
new reporting system to HMS dealers. NMFS will announce additional 
workshops in a future notice.

DATES: The initial Workshop will be held on December 14, 2011, from 6 
to 8 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The initial workshop will be held in St. Thomas, USVI, 
Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort, 5 Estate 
Bakkreore, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 00801. See SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION for additional details.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Delisse Ortiz or Karyl Brewster-Geisz, 
at (301) 427-8503 (phone) or (301) 713-1917 (fax) or http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/index.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS are managed under the dual 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and the Atlantic Tunas Convention 
Act

[[Page 72383]]

(ATCA), 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. Under the MSA, NMFS must ensure 
consistency with the National Standards and manage fisheries to 
maintain optimum yield, rebuild overfished fisheries, and prevent 
overfishing. Under the ATCA, the Secretary of Commerce is required to 
promulgate regulations, as may be necessary and appropriate, to 
implement the recommendations adopted by the International Commission 
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The authority to issue 
regulations under MSA and ATCA has been delegated from the Secretary to 
the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. The implementing 
regulations for Atlantic HMS are at 50 CFR part 635.

Background

    The current regulations and infrastructure of the Atlantic HMS 
quota-monitoring systems result in a delay of several weeks to almost a 
month before NMFS receives dealer data. This can affect management and 
monitoring of small Atlantic HMS quotas and short fishing seasons. As 
such, on June 28, 2011 (76 FR 37750), NMFS published a proposed rule in 
the Federal Register that considered requiring, among other things, 
Federal Atlantic swordfish, shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealer 
reporting Atlantic bluefin tuna) to report commercially-harvested 
Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and BAYS tunas to NMFS through one 
centralized electronic reporting system. Under this new system, dealers 
would submit HMS data electronically instead of in a paper format and 
include additional information that is necessary for management of HMS 
(e.g., vessel and logbook information). The electronic submission of 
data will eliminate the delay associated with mailing in reports to 
NMFS. In this manner, HMS landings data will be submitted on a more 
real-time basis, allowing for timely and efficient data collection for 
management of Atlantic HMS.
    In order to give sufficient time for dealers to adjust to 
implementation of the new system and the additional requirements, NMFS 
proposed delaying implementation of the new HMS electronic reporting 
system for all federally-permitted HMS dealers until 2012. 
Additionally, NMFS decided to conduct outreach to HMD dealers to train 
them how to use the new system and help ease the transition from the 
current paper format to the new HMS electronic reporting system. NMFS 
will conduct an initial workshop for HMS dealers in St. Thomas, 
U.S.V.I. on December 14, 2011 (see DATES and ADDRESSES). NMSF will 
announce additional workshops in other regions in a future Federal 
Register notice.

    Dated: November 18, 2011.
Steven Thur,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-30268 Filed 11-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P