Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Tilefish Fishery; Scoping Process, 14650-14651 [E5-1281]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 23, 2005 / Notices
Memorandum for Amended Final
Results for S.C. Silcotub S.A. (March 9,
2005).
The Department shall determine, and
CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on
all appropriate entries based on the
amended final results. For details on the
assessment of antidumping duties on all
appropriate entries, see Final Results.
Dated: March 16, 2005.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. E5–1283 Filed 3–22–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[I.D. 021105D]
International Whaling Commission;
57th Annual Meeting; Nominations
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), NationalOceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for nominations.
AGENCY:
This notice is a call for
nominees for the U.S. Delegation to the
June 2005 International Whaling
Commission (IWC) annual meeting. The
non-federal representative(s) selected as
a result of this nomination process
is(are) responsible for providing input
and recommendations to the U.S. IWC
Commissioner representing the
positions of non-governmental
organizations. Generally, only one nongovernmental position is selected for the
U.S. Delegation.
DATES: All written nominations for the
U.S. Delegation to the IWC annual
meeting must be received by April 22,
2005.
ADDRESSES: All nominations for the U.S.
Delegation to the IWC annual meeting
should be addressed to Rolland
Schmitten, U.S. Commissioner to the
IWC, and sent via post to: Cheri
McCarty, 13708, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service, 1315 East West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910. Prospective
Congressional advisors to the delegation
should contact the Department of State
directly.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cheri McCarty, 301–713–2322, ext. 114.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Secretary of Commerce is chargedwith
the responsibility of discharging the
obligations of theUnited States under
the International Convention for the
SUMMARY:
VerDate jul<14>2003
16:27 Mar 22, 2005
Jkt 205001
Regulation of Whaling, 1946. The U.S.
Commissioner has primary
responsibility for the preparation and
negotiation of U.S. positions on
international issues concerning whaling
and for all matters involving the IWC.
He is staffed by the Department of
Commerce and assisted by the
Department of State, the Department of
the Interior, the Marine Mammal
Commission, and by other agencies. The
non-federal representative(s) selected as
a result of this nomination process
is(are) responsible for providing input
and recommendations to the U.S. IWC
Commissioner representing the
positions of non-governmental
organizations. Generally, only one nongovernmental position is selected for the
U.S. Delegation.
The IWC is hosting its 57th annual
meeting from June 20–24, 2005, in
Ulsan, Korea.
Dated: March 18, 2005.
Laurie K. Allen,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05–5754 Filed 3–22–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[I.D. 031805B]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Tilefish Fishery; Scoping
Process
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare
an environmental impact statement
(EIS); request for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (Council)
announces its intention to prepare, in
cooperation with NMFS, an EIS in
accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act to assess
potential effects on the human
environment of alternative measures for
managing the golden tilefish
(Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) fishery
pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (MSFCMA). The Council intends to
develop Amendment 1 to the Tilefish
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to
address: The possible implementation of
an individual fishing quota system;
consideration of possible new methods
to collect landings information for the
commercial fishery; possible
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
recreational management measures;
possible establishment of required
minimum hook size and/or hook
configuration in the commercial tilefish
fishery; and, methods to allow new
entrants into the commercial fishery as
the stock recovers. This notice
announces a public process for
determining the scope of issues to be
addressed and for identifying the
significant issues relating to
management of tilefish. The intended
effect of this notice is to alert the
interested public of the scoping process,
the development of the Draft EIS, and to
provide for public participation.
DATES: Written comments on the intent
to prepare an EIS must be received on
or before 5 p.m., local time, on April 22,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the
intent to prepare the EIS or other
information should be directed to Mr.
Daniel T. Furlong, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, Room 2115
Federal Building, 300 S. New St., Dover,
DE 19904, (telephone 302–674–2331).
Comments may also be sent via
facsimile (FAX) to (302) 674–5399 or by
e-mail to TILEFISH.NOI@NOAA.GOV.
Please note on your correspondence (or
include in the subject line of your email): ‘‘Tilefish Amendment 1 Scoping
Comments.’’ The scoping document
may also be obtained from the Council
office at the address and telephone
number above or via the Internet at
https://www.mafmc.org/mid-atlantic/
comments/comments.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Daniel T. Furlong, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, Room 2115
Federal Building, 300 S. New St., Dover,
DE 19904, (telephone 302–674–2331).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
tilefish fishery is managed by the
Council’s Tilefish FMP. The FMP was
approved by the Secretary of Commerce
on May 10, 2001, and became effective
on November 26, 2001 (66 FR 49136;
September 26, 2001). The management
unit for this FMP is defined as all
golden tilefish (Lopholatilus
chamaeleonticeps) under United States
jurisdiction in the Atlantic ocean north
of the Virginia/North Carolina border.
The FMP included management and
administrative measures to ensure
effective and sustainable management of
the tilefish resource. The FMP
established Total Allowable Landings
(TAL) as the primary control on fishing
mortality. The FMP also implemented a
limited entry program and a tiered
commercial quota allocation of the TAL.
Other elements of the FMP include
permits and reporting requirements for
E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM
23MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 23, 2005 / Notices
commercial vessels, operators, and
dealers.
A separate notice of scoping meetings
for this amendment were published on
March 3, 2005 (70 FR 10360), and
March 18, 2005 (70 FR 13171).
Issues Identified for Discussion Under
this Amendment
The Possible Implementation of an
Individual Fishing Quota System
An individual fishing quota program
(IFQ) is a form of output control that
allocates harvesting privileges to
individual fishermen. The MSFCMA
defines an IFQ as ‘‘a Federal permit
under a limited access system to harvest
a quantity of fish, expressed by a unit
or units representing a percentage of the
total allowable catch of a fishery that
may be received or held for exclusive
use by a person.’’ One type of IFQ
program is an individual transferable
quota (ITQ) program. Under an ITQ
program quota shares are able to be
transferred between eligible allocation
holders.
Under the current FMP, there are
three fishing categories that the quota is
divided among. There is an incidental,
a part-time, and a full-time category for
division of the quota. Under the Tilefish
FMP, the ‘‘target’’ estimate of landings
for the incidental category (5 percent of
the TAL) is first deducted from the
overall TAL, and then the remainder of
the TAL is divided among the full-time
tier 1 category, which receives 66
percent; the full-time tier 2 category,
which receives 15 percent; and, the
part-time category, which receives 19
percent. Trip limits are currently only
imposed in the incidental permit
category (open access) to achieve a
‘‘target’’ or soft quota.
The quota-based limited access
program currently in place is based on
group quota shares (quotas allocated to
incidental, part-time, and full time
vessels). However, an IFQ system could
be considered for the three directed
categories of tilefish fishing vessels. The
Tilefish FMP states that ‘‘It is important
to note that the current Mid-Atlantic
Council’s policy is that landings after
1998 will not assure future access to or
an allocation of the tilefish resource.
The purpose of this policy is to prevent
a rush to fish on this overfished
resource, in the hopes of obtaining a
larger future allocation.’’ Therefore, any
IFQ alternative will likely be based on
historical catches from logbook data
from the time period between 1984
and1998. One logical allocation of an
IFQ system could be based on
individual vessel catches over time,
VerDate jul<14>2003
16:27 Mar 22, 2005
Jkt 205001
however, other alternatives to this
system may be proposed.
An IFQ system could be developed to
include all directed categories (i.e., fulltime tier 1, full-time tier 2, and parttime) or it could be designed to include
only 1 or two of the directed categories.
However, it is possible that an IFQ
system that includes all three directed
categories would result in less of an
administrative burden as there would be
only one quota management program as
opposed to 3 or 4 programs. Several
alternatives can be used to divide the
IFQ allocation among vessels within
each directed category. For example, the
following could be used to derive the
IFQ allocation: (1) The IFQ allocation
for a specific directed category could be
divided among that category’s
participants equally; (2) the IFQ
allocation could be based on historic
landings (such as the best 3 or 5 years
of landings over a 10-year period) and
then divided among participants; (3) in
deriving an IFQ allocation the historic
landings employed to derive the original
FMP allocation could be used; or, (4) in
deriving an IFQ allocation weighted
landings that would allocate a greater
weight to more current landings could
be used.
Consideration of Possible New Methods
to Collect Landings Information For the
Commercial Fishery
Collection of information issues have
arisen since the implementation of the
original FMP. More specifically,
stakeholders have recommended that
the Council assess measures to improve
the collection of landings information.
The current FMP requires that ‘‘The
owner or operator of any vessel issued
a limited access permit for tilefish must
submit a tilefish catch report via the
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system
within 24 hours after returning to port
and offloading as required by the
Regional Administrator.’’ According to
industry members not all landings are
reported within the 24 hour period as
required under current regulations.
Therefore, real-time data may not be
available to manage the fishery. This
practice could potentially allow a
category to remain open when, in fact,
it should be closed. Lastly, tilefish
fishermen use paper logbooks to report
fishing activity. Stakeholders and
scientists have suggested that the paper
logbooks are very generic and do not
allow for the collection of detailed
information that could better assess
effort in the fishery. More detailed/
relevant data could be collected that
could be used to further refine the stock
assessment for tilefish.
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
14651
Possible Recreational Management
Measures
The regulations allow for tilefish to be
harvested by the recreational sector.
When the FMP was first developed, the
recreational participation in this fishery
was very small. However, some Council
members have indicated that they have
seen an increase in recreational tilefish
landings. There may be a need to assess
how the recent increase in recreational
landings can be accounted for in the
FMP.
Other Management Concerns
A number of additional management
concerns may also be considered in the
development of Amendment 1
including: (1) Possible establishment of
a required minimum hook size and/or
hook configuration in the tilefish
fishery; and, (2) methods to allow new
entrants into the commercial fishery as
the stock recovers.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 18, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E5–1281 Filed 3–22–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[I.D. 020205E]
Small Takes of Marine Mammals
Incidental to Specified Activities;
Harbor Activities Related to the Delta
IV/Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of application
and proposed authorization for
incidental harassment of marine
mammals; request for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request
from The Boeing Company (Boeing) for
a reauthorization to take small numbers
of marine mammals by harassment
incidental to harbor activities related to
the Delta IV/Evolved Expendable
Launch Vehicle (EELV) at south
Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA (VAFB).
Under the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting
comments on its proposal to authorize
Boeing to take, by harassment, small
numbers of several species of pinnipeds
at south VAFB beginning in May 2005.
E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM
23MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 23, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14650-14651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1281]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 031805B]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Tilefish Fishery;
Scoping Process
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS); request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council)
announces its intention to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS, an EIS in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to assess
potential effects on the human environment of alternative measures for
managing the golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) fishery
pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (MSFCMA). The Council intends to develop Amendment 1 to the
Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to address: The possible
implementation of an individual fishing quota system; consideration of
possible new methods to collect landings information for the commercial
fishery; possible recreational management measures; possible
establishment of required minimum hook size and/or hook configuration
in the commercial tilefish fishery; and, methods to allow new entrants
into the commercial fishery as the stock recovers. This notice
announces a public process for determining the scope of issues to be
addressed and for identifying the significant issues relating to
management of tilefish. The intended effect of this notice is to alert
the interested public of the scoping process, the development of the
Draft EIS, and to provide for public participation.
DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare an EIS must be
received on or before 5 p.m., local time, on April 22, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the intent to prepare the EIS or other
information should be directed to Mr. Daniel T. Furlong, Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300 S. New St.,
Dover, DE 19904, (telephone 302-674-2331). Comments may also be sent
via facsimile (FAX) to (302) 674-5399 or by e-mail to
TILEFISH.NOI@NOAA.GOV. Please note on your correspondence (or include
in the subject line of your e-mail): ``Tilefish Amendment 1 Scoping
Comments.'' The scoping document may also be obtained from the Council
office at the address and telephone number above or via the Internet at
https://www.mafmc.org/mid-atlantic/comments/comments.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Daniel T. Furlong, Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300 S. New St.,
Dover, DE 19904, (telephone 302-674-2331).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The tilefish fishery is managed by the
Council's Tilefish FMP. The FMP was approved by the Secretary of
Commerce on May 10, 2001, and became effective on November 26, 2001 (66
FR 49136; September 26, 2001). The management unit for this FMP is
defined as all golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) under
United States jurisdiction in the Atlantic ocean north of the Virginia/
North Carolina border.
The FMP included management and administrative measures to ensure
effective and sustainable management of the tilefish resource. The FMP
established Total Allowable Landings (TAL) as the primary control on
fishing mortality. The FMP also implemented a limited entry program and
a tiered commercial quota allocation of the TAL. Other elements of the
FMP include permits and reporting requirements for
[[Page 14651]]
commercial vessels, operators, and dealers.
A separate notice of scoping meetings for this amendment were
published on March 3, 2005 (70 FR 10360), and March 18, 2005 (70 FR
13171).
Issues Identified for Discussion Under this Amendment
The Possible Implementation of an Individual Fishing Quota System
An individual fishing quota program (IFQ) is a form of output
control that allocates harvesting privileges to individual fishermen.
The MSFCMA defines an IFQ as ``a Federal permit under a limited access
system to harvest a quantity of fish, expressed by a unit or units
representing a percentage of the total allowable catch of a fishery
that may be received or held for exclusive use by a person.'' One type
of IFQ program is an individual transferable quota (ITQ) program. Under
an ITQ program quota shares are able to be transferred between eligible
allocation holders.
Under the current FMP, there are three fishing categories that the
quota is divided among. There is an incidental, a part-time, and a
full-time category for division of the quota. Under the Tilefish FMP,
the ``target'' estimate of landings for the incidental category (5
percent of the TAL) is first deducted from the overall TAL, and then
the remainder of the TAL is divided among the full-time tier 1
category, which receives 66 percent; the full-time tier 2 category,
which receives 15 percent; and, the part-time category, which receives
19 percent. Trip limits are currently only imposed in the incidental
permit category (open access) to achieve a ``target'' or soft quota.
The quota-based limited access program currently in place is based
on group quota shares (quotas allocated to incidental, part-time, and
full time vessels). However, an IFQ system could be considered for the
three directed categories of tilefish fishing vessels. The Tilefish FMP
states that ``It is important to note that the current Mid-Atlantic
Council's policy is that landings after 1998 will not assure future
access to or an allocation of the tilefish resource. The purpose of
this policy is to prevent a rush to fish on this overfished resource,
in the hopes of obtaining a larger future allocation.'' Therefore, any
IFQ alternative will likely be based on historical catches from logbook
data from the time period between 1984 and1998. One logical allocation
of an IFQ system could be based on individual vessel catches over time,
however, other alternatives to this system may be proposed.
An IFQ system could be developed to include all directed categories
(i.e., full-time tier 1, full-time tier 2, and part-time) or it could
be designed to include only 1 or two of the directed categories.
However, it is possible that an IFQ system that includes all three
directed categories would result in less of an administrative burden as
there would be only one quota management program as opposed to 3 or 4
programs. Several alternatives can be used to divide the IFQ allocation
among vessels within each directed category. For example, the following
could be used to derive the IFQ allocation: (1) The IFQ allocation for
a specific directed category could be divided among that category's
participants equally; (2) the IFQ allocation could be based on historic
landings (such as the best 3 or 5 years of landings over a 10-year
period) and then divided among participants; (3) in deriving an IFQ
allocation the historic landings employed to derive the original FMP
allocation could be used; or, (4) in deriving an IFQ allocation
weighted landings that would allocate a greater weight to more current
landings could be used.
Consideration of Possible New Methods to Collect Landings Information
For the Commercial Fishery
Collection of information issues have arisen since the
implementation of the original FMP. More specifically, stakeholders
have recommended that the Council assess measures to improve the
collection of landings information.
The current FMP requires that ``The owner or operator of any vessel
issued a limited access permit for tilefish must submit a tilefish
catch report via the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system within 24
hours after returning to port and offloading as required by the
Regional Administrator.'' According to industry members not all
landings are reported within the 24 hour period as required under
current regulations. Therefore, real-time data may not be available to
manage the fishery. This practice could potentially allow a category to
remain open when, in fact, it should be closed. Lastly, tilefish
fishermen use paper logbooks to report fishing activity. Stakeholders
and scientists have suggested that the paper logbooks are very generic
and do not allow for the collection of detailed information that could
better assess effort in the fishery. More detailed/relevant data could
be collected that could be used to further refine the stock assessment
for tilefish.
Possible Recreational Management Measures
The regulations allow for tilefish to be harvested by the
recreational sector. When the FMP was first developed, the recreational
participation in this fishery was very small. However, some Council
members have indicated that they have seen an increase in recreational
tilefish landings. There may be a need to assess how the recent
increase in recreational landings can be accounted for in the FMP.
Other Management Concerns
A number of additional management concerns may also be considered
in the development of Amendment 1 including: (1) Possible establishment
of a required minimum hook size and/or hook configuration in the
tilefish fishery; and, (2) methods to allow new entrants into the
commercial fishery as the stock recovers.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 18, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E5-1281 Filed 3-22-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S
