[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 15, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 39016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14082]



[[Page 39016]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 160502383-6483-01]
RIN 0648-BG05


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico; Recreational Management 
Measures; Control Date

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

ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the establishment of a control date of 
December 31, 2015, that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council 
(Council) may use if it decides to create an allocation-based program 
for Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) reef fish headboats that participate in the 
Southeast Region Headboat Survey (SRHS). Vessels that begin 
participating in the SRHS after the control date may not be able to 
participate in the proposed program, and landings after the control 
date may not be used in determining allocations. NMFS invites comments 
on the establishment of this control date.

DATES: Written comments must be received by July 15, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed rule identified by 
``NOAA-NMFS-2016-0056'' 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-2016-0056, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Susan Gerhart, 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 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: Susan Gerhart, NMFS Southeast Regional 
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In early 2015, the Council requested the 
development of Amendment 42 to the Fishery Management Plan for Reef 
Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 42) to address 
management for the headboat component of the Gulf reef fish fishery 
recreational sector. Management measures under consideration in 
Amendment 42 include allocation-based programs. The purpose of the 
proposed measures in Amendment 42 is to reduce management uncertainty 
and improve economic conditions for operators and owners of Gulf reef 
fish headboats, and provide flexibility by increasing fishing 
opportunities for their angler passengers through a management program 
for Gulf headboats participating in the SRHS.
    In the Gulf, there is a Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for 
reef fish and the permit does not distinguish between headboats and 
charter vessels. The SRHS collects catch and effort data from headboats 
in the Southeast Region, thereby producing a catch history for each 
vessel included in the survey. In addition, for fishery managers, the 
SRHS continues to be the sole source for effort and landings estimates 
for the headboat component as a whole. For these reasons, the vessels 
eligible to participate in the program developed in Amendment 42 are 
those vessels with Federal charter vessel/headboat permits for reef 
fish that also have landings in the SRHS. The availability of vessel-
specific landings data through the SRHS may allow development of an 
allocation-based management program for headboats using those landings 
histories.
    This notice informs current and potential participants in the 
headboat component of the Gulf reef fish fishery that the Council 
intends to consider limiting participation in any allocation-based 
management program developed through Amendment 42 to only vessels with 
landings in the SRHS on or before December 31, 2015. Vessels joining 
the SRHS after this date may not be eligible to participate in an 
allocation-based program that could be developed as part of Amendment 
42, and landings after this control date may not be used in determining 
possible allocations. An analysis of specific biological, economic, and 
social effects will be presented in Amendment 42.
    Publication of the control date of December 31, 2015, in the 
Federal Register informs reef fish fishery participants of the 
Council's considerations, and gives notice to anyone entering the reef 
fish fishery after the control date that they would not be assured of 
participating in the allocation-based program should the program be 
implemented using the control date as an eligibility criterion. 
Implementation of any such program requires preparation of an amendment 
to the respective fishery management plan 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.
    The establishment of a control date does not commit the Council or 
NMFS to any particular management decisions. The Council may or may not 
make use of this control date as part of the requirements for any 
allocation-based management program developed through Amendment 42. 
Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in a possible 
program, regardless of their entry date into the fishery. The Council 
may take action that would affect participants who were in the SRHS 
prior to the control date, or the Council may choose to take no further 
action to develop an allocation-based management program.
    This notification also gives the public notice that interested 
participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and 
verify their participation in the headboat component of the Gulf reef 
fish fishery and the SRHS.

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

    Dated: June 9, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-14082 Filed 6-14-16; 8:45 am]
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