[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 23 (Thursday, February 4, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5979-5980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02093]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 151217999-6045-01]
RIN 0648-BF66


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Dolphin and Wahoo Resources of the Atlantic; Commercial Dolphin Fishery 
of the Atlantic; Control Date

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

ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of a 
control date.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the establishment of a control date of 
June 30, 2015, that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
(Council) may use if it decides to create restrictions limiting 
participation in the dolphin commercial sector of the dolphin and wahoo 
fishery in the Atlantic exclusive economic zone. Anyone entering the 
sector after the control date will not be assured of future access 
should a management regime that limits participation in the sector be 
prepared and implemented. This announcement is intended, in part, to 
promote awareness of the potential eligibility criteria for future 
access so as to discourage speculative entry into the Atlantic dolphin 
commercial sector while the Council and NMFS consider whether and how 
access to the sector should be controlled. NMFS invites comments on the 
establishment of this control date.

DATES: Written comments must be received by March 7, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by ``NOAA-NMFS-2016-
0001'' by either of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0001, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Mary Janine Vara, NMFS 
Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 
33701.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of

[[Page 5980]]

the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. All comments 
received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted 
for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal 
identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential 
business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted 
voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept 
anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to 
remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Janine Vara, NMFS Southeast 
Regional Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The dolphin and wahoo fishery in the 
Atlantic is managed under the fishery management plan (FMP) for the 
Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States. The FMP was prepared 
by the Council and is implemented by NMFS under the authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act) through regulations at 50 CFR part 622.
    The Council voted at the September 2015 meeting to establish a 
control date of June 30, 2015, for the Atlantic dolphin commercial 
sector of the dolphin and wahoo fishery. The control date enables the 
Council to inform current and potential participants that it is 
considering creating restrictions limiting participation in the 
Atlantic dolphin commercial sector.
    This notice informs current and potential participants in the 
Atlantic dolphin commercial sector within the dolphin and wahoo fishery 
that after June 30, 2015, they may not be ensured participation under 
future management of the fishery. If the Council decides to prepare an 
amendment to the FMP to restrict participation in the Atlantic dolphin 
commercial sector in relation to this control date, an analysis of 
specific biological, economic, and social effects will be prepared at 
that time.
    Publication of the control date in the Federal Register informs 
participants of the Council's considerations, and gives notice to 
anyone entering the Atlantic dolphin commercial sector after the 
control date that they would not be assured of future access to the 
sector should management changes be implemented that would restrict 
participation. Implementation of any such changes would require 
preparation of an amendment to the FMP and publication of a notice of 
availability and proposed rule in the Federal Register with public 
comment periods, and, if approved by the Secretary of Commerce, 
issuance of a final rule.
    Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in a fishery or 
sector regardless of their entry date or intensity of participation in 
the fishery or sector before or after the control date under 
consideration. The Council subsequently may choose a different control 
date or they may choose a management regime without using a control 
date. The Council also may choose to take no further action to control 
entry or access to the Atlantic dolphin commercial sector, in which 
case the control date may be rescinded.
    This notification also gives the public notice that interested 
participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and 
verify their participation in the Atlantic dolphin commercial sector of 
the dolphin and wahoo fishery.

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

    Dated: January 29, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant for Regulatory Programs, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-02093 Filed 2-3-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P