Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 2008 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quota Specifications and Effort Controls, 56036-56040 [E7-19421]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 2, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56036-56040]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19421]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 070612190-7326-01]
RIN 0648-AV58


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 2008 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Quota Specifications and Effort Controls

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments; notice of public hearings.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes initial 2008 fishing year specifications for the 
Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery to set BFT quotas for each of the 
established domestic fishing categories and to set effort controls for 
the General category and Angling category. This action is necessary to 
implement recommendations of the International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as required by the Atlantic 
Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve domestic management 
objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). NMFS solicits written comments 
and will hold public hearings in October 2007 to receive oral comments 
on these proposed actions.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 1, 2007.
    The public hearing dates are:
    1. October 3, 2007, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Silver Spring, MD.
    2. October 23, 2007, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Gloucester, MA.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``0648-AV58'', by any 
one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal https://www.regulations.gov
     Fax: 978-281-9340, Attn: Sarah McLaughlin
     Mail: Sarah McLaughlin, Highly Migratory Species 
Management Division, Office of Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS, One 
Blackburn Dr., Gloucester, MA 01930
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to Portal https://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. Attachments to electronic 
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 
Adobe PDF file formats only.
    The hearing locations are:
    1. Silver Spring -- NOAA Science Center, 1301 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    2. Gloucester -- NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
    Supporting documents including the 2007 Environmental Assessment, 
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, and Regulatory Impact Review 
are available by sending your request to Sarah McLaughlin at the 
mailing address specified above.

[[Page 56037]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin, 978-281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic tunas are managed under the dual 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the ATCA. The ATCA authorizes 
the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to promulgate regulations, as may 
be necessary and appropriate, to implement ICCAT recommendations. The 
authority to issue regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the 
ATCA has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).

Background

    On May 28, 1998, NMFS published in the Federal Register (64 FR 
29090) final regulations, effective July 1, 1999, implementing the 
Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (1999 
FMP). On October 2, 2006, NMFS published in the Federal Register (71 FR 
58058) final regulations, effective November 1, 2006, implementing the 
Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan 
(Consolidated HMS FMP), which consolidates the management of all 
Atlantic HMS (i.e., sharks, swordfish, tunas, and billfish) into one 
comprehensive FMP. The implementing regulations for Atlantic HMS are at 
50 CFR part 635.
    The 2008 annual specifications are necessary to implement the 2006 
ICCAT quota recommendation, as required by the ATCA, and to achieve 
domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The 
proposed rule would: (1) establish initial quota specifications 
consistent with the BFT rebuilding program by adjusting the 2006 ICCAT-
recommended quota as necessary for the 2008 fishing year (January 1, 
2008 - December 31, 2008); (2) establish General category effort 
controls, including restricted fishing days (RFDs) and initial 
retention limits; and (3) establish Angling category retention limits 
for the 2008 fishing season. This action is published in accordance 
with the framework procedures set forth in the Consolidated HMS FMP and 
is supported by the analytical documents prepared for the Consolidated 
HMS FMP and for the 2007 BFT specifications and effort controls. Copies 
of these documents are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

2006 ICCAT Recommendation, BFT Underharvests, and Transfers to Other 
ICCAT Contracting Parties

    At its 2006 meeting, ICCAT recommended a western Atlantic BFT Total 
Allowable Catch (TAC) of 2,100 mt to allow for continued rebuilding of 
BFT through 2018. The TAC includes dead discards and will be effective 
through 2008, and thereafter until changed. The following are deducted 
from the TAC prior to determining the U.S. share percentage: 4 mt for 
the United Kingdom (in respect of Bermuda), 4 mt for France (in respect 
of St. Pierre and Miquelon), 25 mt for Mexico (to allow incidental 
catch in the longline fishery in the Gulf of Mexico), and 15 mt for 
Canada and 25 mt for the United States (for bycatch related to directed 
longline fisheries ``in the vicinity of the management boundary area,'' 
i.e., the Northeast Distant gear restricted area (NED), which was 
defined in the 2003 BFT annual specification rulemaking process as the 
Northeast Distant statistical area (68 FR 56783, October 2, 2003)). The 
U.S. share of the adjusted TAC is 57.48 percent, or 1,165.12 mt. 
Accounting for the 25 mt NED set-aside, the total U.S. allocation is 
1,190.12 mt.
    The 2006 ICCAT recommendation also includes provisions to: (1) 
limit carryover of underharvest to no more than 50 percent of a 
contracting party's initial TAC; (2) limit mortality of school BFT to 
an average of 10 percent of the initial TAC, calculated on a four-year 
basis; and (3) allow a contracting party with a TAC allocation to make 
a one-time transfer within a fishing year of up to 15 percent of its 
TAC allocation to other contracting parties with TAC allocations, 
consistent with domestic obligations and conservation considerations. 
Regarding the third provision, the ICCAT recommendation stipulates that 
the quota transfer may not be used to cover overharvests, and that a 
contracting party that receives a one-time quota transfer may not 
retransfer that quota. For the United States, the 15-percent limit on 
quota transfer equates to 178.5 mt. Consistent with Sec.  635.27(a)(8), 
NMFS would consider several factors in deciding whether or not the 
United States would enter into an arrangement with another ICCAT 
contracting party, including, but not limited to, the amount of quota 
to be transferred, the projected ability of U.S. vessels to harvest the 
U.S. TAC before the end of the fishing year, the potential benefits of 
the transfer to U.S. fishing participants, potential ecological 
impacts, and the contracting party's ICCAT compliance status. Should 
NMFS consider a transfer of U.S. quota to another ICCAT contracting 
party, NMFS would publish a separate action in the Federal Register, 
which would provide detail of the transaction considered, including 
information regarding the factors above.

Domestic Allocations and Quotas

    The 1999 FMP and its implementing regulations established baseline 
percentage quota shares for the domestic fishing categories. These 
percentage shares were based on allocation procedures that NMFS 
developed over several years. The baseline percentage quota shares 
established in the 1999 FMP and contained in the Consolidated HMS FMP 
for fishing years beginning June 1, 1999, and continuing to the present 
are as follows: General category -- 47.1 percent; Harpoon category -- 
3.9 percent; Purse Seine category -- 18.6 percent; Angling category -- 
19.7 percent; Longline category -- 8.1 percent; Trap category -- 0.1 
percent; and Reserve category -- 2.5 percent.
    In the final 2007 fishing year BFT specifications (72 FR 33401, 
June 18, 2007), NMFS modified the baseline landings quota to 1,165.12 
mt to implement the 2006 ICCAT recommendation and set the category 
subquotas per the allocations established in the Consolidated HMS FMP. 
The baseline quotas are as follows: General category -- 548.8 mt; 
Harpoon category -- 45.4 mt; Purse Seine category -- 216.7 mt; Angling 
category -- 229.5 mt; Longline category -- 94.4 mt; and Trap category 
-- 1.2 mt. An additional 29.1 mt is allocated to the Reserve category 
for inseason adjustments, scientific research collection, potential 
overharvest in any category except the Purse Seine category, and 
potential quota transfers.
    The baseline Angling category quota of 229.5 mt is further 
subdivided as follows: School BFT -- 119 mt, with 45.8 mt to the 
northern area (north of 39[deg]18' N. latitude), 51.2 mt to the 
southern area (south of 39[deg]18' N. latitude), plus 22 mt held in 
reserve; large school/small medium BFT -- 105.2 mt, with 49.6 mt to the 
northern area and 55.6 mt to the southern area; and large medium/giant 
BFT -- 5.3 mt, with 1.8 mt to the northern area and 3.5 mt to the 
southern area. The 25-mt NED set-aside quota is in addition to the 
overall incidental longline quota to be subdivided in accordance with 
the North/South allocation percentages (i.e., no more than 60 percent 
to the south of 31[deg] N. latitude). Thus, the baseline Longline 
category quota of 94.4 mt is subdivided as follows: 37.8 mt to pelagic 
longline vessels landing BFT north of 31[deg] N. latitude and 56.6 mt 
to pelagic longline vessels landing BFT south of 31[deg] N. latitude, 
with 25 mt set-aside for bycatch of BFT related to directed pelagic 
longline fisheries in the NED. NMFS accounts for landings under this 
additional quota separately

[[Page 56038]]

from other landings under the Longline north subcategory.
    The baseline landings quota and category subquotas are effective 
until changed, for instance, as a result of a potential new ICCAT BFT 
TAC recommendation made at its upcoming 2008 Annual Meeting. Consistent 
with the Consolidated HMS FMP, NMFS will make underharvest and 
overharvest adjustments as necessary for the 2008 fishing year.

2008 Quota Specifications

    NMFS anticipates that the 2007 fishing year underharvest will be 
substantial, based on current landings information and communication 
with BFT fishermen, and given the relatively low BFT harvest rates in 
recent years. However, the current ICCAT recommendation limits the 
amount of underharvest the United States may carry over for 2008 to 
595.1 mt. In this action, NMFS proposes to carryover 595.1 mt of BFT 
underharvest from the 2007 fishing year to the 2008 fishing year quota, 
and distribute that underharvest in such a manner to: (1) Allow for 
potential transfer of a portion (up to 15 percent) of the 2008 U.S. 
quota to other ICCAT Contracting Parties and other domestic management 
objectives, if warranted; (2) ensure that the Longline category has 
sufficient quota to operate during the 2008 fishing year after the 
required accounting for BFT dead discards; and (3) provide the non-
Longline quota categories a share of the remainder of the underharvest 
consistent with the allocation scheme established in the Consolidated 
HMS FMP.
    The United States must report dead discard estimates to ICCAT 
annually and account for this mortality as part of the specification 
calculation process. Accordingly, NMFS must account for BFT dead 
discards in setting the 2008 fishing year quota. NMFS proposes to 
assign a sufficient amount of any quota carryover (53.6 mt) to the 
Longline category so that after accounting for dead discards, 
sufficient quota is available to cover anticipated pelagic longline 
fishery landings during the 2008 fishing year. Providing sufficient 
landings quota would allow not only a full year fishery but avoid 
discards that could result if the fishery were closed due to the quota 
being met while longline vessels are fishing for other species.
    The best available preliminary estimate of dead discards for 2006 
is 91.3 mt. This estimate is generated via extrapolation of pelagic 
longline logbook tallies by pooled observer data. Estimates of dead 
discards from other gear types and fishing sectors that do not use the 
pelagic longline vessel logbook are unavailable at this time and thus 
are not included in this calculation. Per the ICCAT recommendation, 
which specifies a U.S. quota that is inclusive of dead discards, and 
consistent with the regulations regarding annual quota adjustments at 
Sec.  635.27(a)(10)(iv), NMFS would deduct the 91.3 mt of estimated 
dead discards from the amount of quota available for the Longline 
category for the 2008 fishing year. The best available information 
indicates that pelagic longline landings and dead discards for 2006 
totaled 148 mt. The baseline longline category quota is 94.4 mt. 
Therefore, NMFS proposes to use 56.7 mt of BFT underharvest to cover 
the anticipated pelagic longline fishery landings during the 2008 
fishing year.
    Additionally, NMFS would place 178.5 mt (i.e., 15 percent of 
1,190.12 mt) of 2007 fishing year underharvest in the Reserve for 
potential ICCAT transfer purposes and other domestic management 
objectives. NMFS proposes to distribute the remainder of the quota 
carryover (363 mt) to the Angling, General, Harpoon, Purse Seine, and 
Trap categories consistent with their FMP allocations.
    In accordance with the 2006 ICCAT quota recommendation, the 
Consolidated HMS FMP percentage shares for each of the domestic 
categories, and regulations regarding annual adjustments at Sec.  
635.27(a)(10), NMFS proposes initial quota specifications for the 2008 
fishing year as follows: General category -- 740.0 mt; Harpoon category 
-- 61.2 mt; Purse Seine category -- 292.2 mt; Angling category -- 309.5 
mt; Longline category -- 56.7 mt; and Trap category -- 1.6 mt. 
Additionally, 207.6 mt would be allocated to the Reserve category for 
inseason adjustments, scientific research collection, potential 
overharvest in any category except the Purse Seine category, and 
potential quota transfers.
    The proposed General category quota of 740.0 mt would be divided 
per the time period allocations established in the Consolidated FMP, 
i.e., 39.2 mt (5.3 percent) for the period beginning January 1, 2008, 
and ending January 31, 2008, 370.0 mt (50 percent) would be available 
in the period beginning June 1, 2008, and ending August 31, 2008; 196.1 
mt (26.5 percent) would be available in the period beginning September 
1, 2008, and ending September 30, 2008; 96.2 mt (13 percent) would be 
available in the period beginning October 1, 2008, and ending November 
30, 2008; and 38.5 mt (5.2 percent) would be available in the period 
beginning December 1, 2008, and ending December 31, 2008.
    As discussed in the Consolidated HMS FMP, NMFS has received public 
comment expressing concern relating to the rollover of underharvest or 
overharvest from one subperiod to the next between fishing years. In 
the Consolidated FMP, NMFS considered three scenarios that could occur 
regarding disposition of any carryover that accrues during the December 
subperiod: (1) rollover of any underharvest or overharvest in full to 
the January subquota; (2) rollover of 5.3 percent of the underharvest 
or overharvest to the January subquota; and (3) no rollover of any 
underharvest or overharvest to the January subquota. However, the 2006 
ICCAT recommendation to cap the carryover of underharvest from one year 
to the next and to account for dead discards annually has led to the 
underharvest allocation approach used in the 2007 fishing year and 
described above. NMFS intends to publish final specifications in 
advance of the 2008 fishing year, which would allow General category 
participants to plan fishing activities based on the adjusted January 
2008 subquota.
    Based on the above proposed initial specifications and 
considerations regarding the school BFT fishery, the Angling category 
quota of 309.5 mt would be further subdivided as follows: School BFT -- 
119 mt, with 45.8 mt to the northern area (north of 39[deg]18' N. 
latitude), 51.2 mt to the southern area (south of 39[deg]18' N. 
latitude), plus 22 mt held in reserve; large school/small medium BFT -- 
183.4 mt, with 86.6 mt to the northern area and 96.8 mt to the southern 
area; and large medium/giant BFT -- 7.1 mt, with 2.4 mt to the northern 
area and 4.7 mt to the southern area.
    The 25-mt NED set-aside quota is in addition to the overall 
incidental longline quota to be subdivided in accordance with the 
North/South allocation percentages (i.e., no more than 60 percent to 
the south of 31[deg] N. latitude). Thus, the proposed Longline category 
quota of 56.7 mt would be subdivided as follows: 22.7 mt to pelagic 
longline vessels landing BFT north of 31[deg] N. latitude and 34.0 mt 
to pelagic longline vessels landing BFT south of 31[deg] N. latitude, 
with 25 mt set-aside for bycatch of BFT related to directed pelagic 
longline fisheries in the NED. NMFS would account for landings under 
this additional quota separately from other landings under the Longline 
north subcategory.

[[Page 56039]]

    Adjustments to the 2008 quotas and subquotas will be updated in the 
final rule. If complete information is not available when the final 
rule is published, NMFS may need to publish a quota adjustment in 2008.

General Category Effort Controls

    In addition to time-period subquotas, NMFS also implements General 
category RFDs to extend the General category fishing season. The RFDs 
are designed to address the same issues addressed by time-period 
subquotas and provide additional fine scale inseason flexibility. For 
the 2008 fishing year, NMFS proposes a series of solid blocks of RFDs 
to extend the General category for as long as possible through the end 
of the 2008 fishing year. Therefore, NMFS proposes that persons aboard 
vessels permitted in the General category would be prohibited from 
fishing, including catch-and-release and tag-and-release, for BFT of 
all sizes on the following days: all Saturdays and Sundays from 
November 15, 2008, through December 31, 2008, plus November 27 and 
December 25, 2008, while the fishery is open.
    Finally, NMFS proposes to increase the General category retention 
limit to three BFT (73 inches (185.4 cm) or greater per vessel per day/
trip) for the January and June-August subperiods. This action is 
intended to allow increased opportunities to harvest the General 
category quota during the period when catch rates have historically 
been slow, and to avoid accumulation of unused quota. This retention 
limit would be effective from January 1, 2008, through January 31, 2008 
and from June 1, 2008, through August 31, 2008, unless adjusted with an 
inseason action, if necessary. NMFS may consider further retention 
limit adjustments after August 31, 2008, depending on several factors, 
including but not limited to catch rates and availability of quota.

Angling Category Effort Controls

    NMFS proposes to increase the Angling category retention limit to 
one school BFT (27 inches (68.6 cm) to less than 47 inches (119.4 cm)), 
and two large school/small medium BFT (i.e., two BFT measuring 47 
inches (119.4 cm) to less than 73 inches (185.4 cm)) per vessel per 
day/trip. This limit was set for the 2007 fishing year to be consistent 
with the 2006 ICCAT recommendation that limits tolerance for school BFT 
landings to 10 percent of the U.S. TAC, calculated on a four-year 
average, and to maximize use of the Angling category quota while 
avoiding overharvest of each of the Angling category subquotas. The 
action also would provide the same retention limit for both private and 
charter/headboat vessels. NMFS has received public comment on the 2007 
quota and effort control specifications and during the 2007 fishing 
season that application of the same measures for both sectors works 
well. NMFS does not have information, from recreational BFT landings 
estimates or from public comment, that would support a change in the 
Angling category retention limit for 2008 from the one implemented for 
the 2007 fishing year.

Classification

    NMFS has preliminarily determined that the proposed rule is 
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Atlantic Tunas 
Convention Act as well as with the Consolidated HMS FMP and 
recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
as follows:
    The 2008 annual specifications are necessary to implement the 
2006 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 
(ICCAT) quota recommendation, as required by the Atlantic Tunas 
Convention Act, and to achieve domestic management objectives under 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The proposed rule would: (1) Establish 
initial quota specifications consistent with the BFT rebuilding 
program by adjusting the 2006 ICCAT-recommended quota as necessary 
for the 2008 fishing year; (2) establish General category effort 
controls, including restricted fishing days (RFDs) and initial 
retention limits; and (3) establish Angling category retention 
limits for the 2008 fishing season. This action was developed in 
accordance with the framework procedures set forth in the 
Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management 
Plan (Consolidated HMS FMP), and is supported by the analytical 
documents prepared for the Consolidated HMS FMP and for the 2007 BFT 
specifications and effort controls.
    On June 18, 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) 
published a final rule (72 FR 33401) that modified the baseline BFT 
landings quota to 1,165.12 mt to implement the 2006 ICCAT 
recommendation, set the category subquotas per the allocations 
established in the Consolidated HMS FMP, and set effort controls for 
the General and Angling categories for the 2007 fishing year (June 1 
through December 31, 2007, pursuant to the change in fishing year to 
a calendar year as of January 2008 per the Consolidated HMS FMP). 
The final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) prepared for the 
2007 BFT specifications and effort controls indicated that there 
were 9,001 commercial Atlantic tunas or Atlantic HMS permit holders. 
This constitutes the best available information regarding the 
universe of permit holders as permits are still being renewed for 
the 2007 and 2008 fishing years. Because NMFS considers all the 
commercial Atlantic tunas and HMS permit holders to be small 
business entities, disproportionality of economic impacts between 
small and large business entities is not an issue.
    This proposed rule would not change the BFT baseline quota and 
category subquotas, or implement any new management measures not 
previously considered, and thus NMFS has determined that the impact 
on small entities affected by the proposed rule will not be 
significant. The 2006 ICCAT recommendation is in effect until 
changed, for instance, as a result of a new ICCAT BFT quota 
recommendation made at its November 2008 Annual Meeting. The 
domestic BFT baseline quotas and subquotas are codified in the 
regulations. Each proposed action in this rule is addressed 
separately below.
    Carryover of underharvest: The 2006 ICCAT recommendation limits 
carryover of BFT underharvest from the 2007 fishing year to the 2008 
fishing year quota to 595.1 mt. NMFS proposes to carry over and to 
distribute 595.1 mt of BFT underharvest via the same method as used 
for the 2007 fishing year, and consistently with the ICCAT 
recommendation and with the Consolidated HMS FMP. The adjusted quota 
for the 2008 fishing year would be 2 percent higher than that for 
the 2007 fishing year based on the preliminary estimate of the 
amount of underharvest that NMFS would use to cover anticipated 
Longline category landings in 2008. Given that the U.S. quota has 
been underharvested by a substantial amount in the last few years, 
and is expected to be underharvested this year, this increase is not 
expected to have a significant impact on individual small entities. 
The annual specification process that this proposed rule follows, 
including application of underharvests and overharvests, is 
described in detail in Chapters 3 and 4 of the Consolidated HMS FMP.
    Effort controls: The proposed rule would increase the General 
category retention limit from the default level of 1 BFT to 3 BFT 
(73 inches or greater), the maximum allowed under the FMP. This 
action is the same as implemented for the 2007 fishing year and is 
intended to allow for maximum utilization of the BFT quota. An 
examination of landings data indicates that, while the retention 
limit increase would allow fishermen the flexibility to retain a 
second or third BFT if encountered, it is likely to have only 
slightly positive economic impacts on General category participants 
because success rates of catching a second or third BFT have been 
very low in recent years.
    NMFS currently does not have information that would support a 
change in the Angling category retention limit for 2008 from the one 
implemented for the 2007 fishing year. The proposed increase of the 
Angling category

[[Page 56040]]

retention limit from the default of 1 fish (school, large school, or 
small medium BFT) to 3 fish (1 school BFT plus 2 large school or 
small medium BFT) is expected to provide increased opportunities to 
for recreational anglers without risking overharvest of the Angling 
category quota. To the extent that these increased opportunities may 
result in increased charter/headboat bookings, there may be slightly 
positive impacts on Charter/Headboat permit holders.
    The proposed RFDs are also the same as those implemented for the 
2007 fishing year (with adjustments as needed for the 2008 calendar) 
and are designed to pace the entry of product to the market when 
landings rates are high. To the extent that RFDs have the potential 
to improve market prices, particularly for exported BFT, the 
implementation of RFDs may have slightly positive impacts, if 
needed, i.e., if not waived upon determination that they will not be 
needed, for instance if late season fishing rates are low. 
Regardless, the schedule of proposed RFDs is not expected to have a 
significant impact on small entities and is not expected to have any 
relative impact when compared with the 2007 fishing season.
    Because the economic impact of the carryover of underharvest and 
effort controls, to the extent that there are any, is expected to be 
generally positive, this rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

Public Hearings

    The hearing locations are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Sarah McLaughlin at (978) 281-
9279, at least 7 days prior to the meeting.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: September 26, 2007.
William T. Hogarth
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-19421 Filed 10-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S