Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Scup Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for 2008 Summer Period, 33924-33925 [08-1357]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
33924
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 116 / Monday, June 16, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
Changes From the Proposed Rule
There was one comment received in
support of the proposed rule, and there
are no substantive changes to the
proposed rule. Additional language was
added to the final rule, to clarify that
scallop dredge vessels that land an
incidental catch of monkfish within
these new scallop exemptions, who do
not currently possess a monkfish
permit, must obtain a monkfish open
access Incidental Catch permit.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with RULES
Classification
NMFS has determined that this final
rule is consistent with the FMP and has
determined that it is consistent with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act and
other applicable laws.
This final 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 during
the proposed rule stage that this action
would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the
certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here.
No comments were received regarding
this certification. As a result, a
regulatory flexibility analysis was not
required and none was prepared. There
are no Federal rules that duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with the final rule.
This action creates three scallop
exemptions for General Category scallop
vessels, or limited access scallop vessels
not fishing on a DAS allocation,
identical to the current scallop
exemptions, with the addition of an
incidental catch of monkfish. This
action was categorically excluded under
the National Environmental Policy Act,
as an action that includes minor
technical additions, corrections, or
changes to an FMP.
The economic impacts of the action
are expected to be minimal and positive.
This action allows the General Category
scallop fleet, while fishing under a
scallop exemption, to land up to 50 lb
(23 kg) tail weight or 166 lb (75 kg)
whole weight of monkfish per trip, in
addition to scallops. This allows the
fleet to utilize these resources in a
manner consistent with the bycatch and
mortality objectives of the FMP. This
action allows a small incidental catch of
monkfish, and as such is expected to
minimally increase revenues for scallop
dredge vessels fishing under the General
Category permit provisions.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:56 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 214001
Small Entity Compliance Guide
Section 212 of the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996 states that, for each rule or group
of related rules for which an agency is
required to prepare a FRFA, the agency
shall publish one or more guides to
assist small entities in complying with
the rule, and shall designate such
publications as ‘‘small entity
compliance guides.’’ The agency shall
explain the action a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule
or group of rules. As part of this
rulemaking process, a small entity
compliance guide was prepared. Copies
of the guide will be sent to all holders
of commercial Federal scallop permits.
The guide will also be available on the
internet at https://www.nero.noaa.gov.
Copies of the guide can also be obtained
from the Regional Administrator (see
ADDRESSES).
Reporting and Recordkeeping
Requirements
This action does not contain an
additional collection-of-information
requirement subject to review by the
Office of Management and Budget under
the Paperwork Reduction Act.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
specified in this paragraph (a)(11) may
not fish for, possess on board, or land
any species of fish other than Atlantic
sea scallops and up to 50 lb (23 kg) tail
weight or 166 lb (75 kg) whole weight
of monkfish per trip.
*
*
*
*
*
(18) * * *
(ii) * * *
(A) A vessel fishing in the Great South
Channel Scallop Dredge Exemption
Area specified in this paragraph (a)(18)
may not fish for, possess on board, or
land any species of fish other than
Atlantic sea scallops and up to 50 lb (23
kg) tail weight or 166 lb (75 kg) whole
weight of monkfish per trip.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(11) * * *
(ii) * * *
(A) A vessel fishing in the SNE
Scallop Dredge Exemption Area may not
fish for, posses on board, or land any
species of fish other than Atlantic sea
scallops and up to 50 lb (23 kg) tail
weight or 166 lb (75 kg) whole weight
of monkfish per trip.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. E8–13492 Filed 6–13–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Dated: June 11, 2008.
James W. Balsiger,
Acting Assistant Administrator For Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
For the reasons stated in the preamble,
50 CFR part 648 is amended as follows:
[Docket No. 071030625–7696–02]
I
PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE
NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. The authority citation for part 648
continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In § 648.80, paragraphs (a)(8)(iv)
introductory text, (a)(11)(i)(A),
(a)(18)(ii)(A), and (b)(11)(ii)(A) are
revised to read as follows:
I
§ 648.80 NE Multispecies regulated mesh
areas and restrictions on gear and methods
of fishing.
*
*
*
*
*
(a) * * *
(8) * * *
(iv) Unless otherwise specified within
the exempted fisheries authorized under
this paragraph (a)(8), incidental catch is
restricted, at a minimum, to the
following:
*
*
*
*
*
(11) * * *
(i) * * *
(A) A vessel fishing in the GOM
Scallop Dredge Fishery Exemption Area
PO 00000
Frm 00050
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648–XI40
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Scup Fishery; Commercial
Quota Harvested for 2008 Summer
Period
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure
of the scup commercial coastwide
fishery from Maine through North
Carolina for the Summer Period.
Regulations governing the scup fishery
require publication of this notification
to advise the coastal states from Maine
through North Carolina that this quota
has been harvested and to advise
Federal vessel permit holders and
Federal dealer permit holders that no
commercial quota is available for
landing scup in these states. Federally
permitted commercial vessels may not
land scup in these states for the
E:\FR\FM\16JNR1.SGM
16JNR1
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 116 / Monday, June 16, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with RULES
remainder of the 2008 Summer quota
period (through October 31, 2008).
DATES: Effective June 16, 2008, through
October 31, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Emily Bryant, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281–9244.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations governing the scup fishery
are found at 50 CFR part 648. The
regulations at § 648.121 require the
Regional Administrator to monitor the
commercial scup quota for each quota
period and, based upon dealer reports,
state data, and other available
information, to determine when the
commercial quota for a period has been
harvested. NMFS is required to publish
a notification in the Federal Register
advising and notifying commercial
vessels and dealer permit holders that,
effective upon a specific date, the scup
commercial quota has been harvested
and no commercial quota is available for
landing scup for the remainder of the
Summer Period. Based upon recent
projections, the Regional Administrator
has determined that the Federal
commercial quota of 1,437,588 lb (652
mt) for the 2008 Summer Period will be
fully harvested by or before October 31,
2008. To maintain the integrity of the
2009 Summer Period quota by avoiding
or minimizing quota overages, the
commercial scup fishery will close for
the remainder of the Summer Period
(through October 31, 2008) in Federal
waters, effective as of the date specified
above (see DATES).
Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal
scup moratorium permit holders agree,
as a condition of the permit, not to land
scup in any state after NMFS has
published a notification in the Federal
Register stating that the commercial
quota for the period has been harvested
and that no commercial quota for scup
is available. Therefore, effective 0001
hours, June 16, 2008, further landings of
scup by vessels holding Federal scup
moratorium permits are prohibited
through October 31, 2008. Effective
0001 hours, June 16, 2008, federally
permitted dealers are also advised that
they may not purchase scup from
federally permitted vessels that land in
coastal states from Maine through North
Carolina for the remainder of the
Summer Period (through October 31,
2008). The Winter II Period for
commercial scup harvest will open on
November 1, 2008.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part
648 and is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:56 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 214001
Dated: June 10, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 08–1357 Filed 6–11–08; 3:23 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 680
RIN 0648–AW37
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
Crabs
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; agency decision.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS announces the
approval of Amendment 24 to the
Fishery Management Plan for Bering
Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
Crabs (FMP). Amendment 24 specifies a
five-tier system for determining the
status of the crab stocks managed under
the FMP, establishes a process for
annually assigning each crab stock to a
tier and for setting the overfishing and
overfished levels, and reduces the
number of crab stocks managed under
the FMP. Amendment 24 is necessary to
establish new overfishing definitions
that contain objective and measurable
criteria for determining whether each
managed stock is overfished or whether
overfishing is occurring and to remove
from the FMP several crab stocks
managed by the State of Alaska. This
action is intended to promote the goals
and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, the FMP, and other applicable
laws.
DATES: This agency decision is effective
June 6, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 24
and the Environmental Assessment (EA)
for this action may be obtained from the
NMFS Alaska Region at the address
above or from the Alaska Region website
at https://www.fakr.noaa.gov/
sustainablefisheries.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Gretchen Harrington, 907–586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that
each regional fishery management
PO 00000
Frm 00051
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
33925
council submit any Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and
approval, disapproval, or partial
approval by the Secretary of Commerce.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act also
requires that NMFS, upon receiving an
FMP amendment, immediately publish
a notice in the Federal Register
announcing that the amendment is
available for public review and
comment.
The North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council)
submitted Amendment 24 to the FMP to
NMFS on March 6, 2008. The notice of
availability for Amendment 24 was
published in the Federal Register on
March 19, 2008 (73 FR 14766). The
public comment period closed on May
19, 2008. NMFS received 1 public
comment and considered this comment
in determining whether to approve this
FMP amendment. NMFS has
summarized and responded to the
public comment received in this notice
under Public Comments, below.
In December 2007, the Council
unanimously recommended
Amendment 24. Amendment 24
satisfies the Magnuson-Stevens Act
requirement that FMPs contain objective
and measurable criteria for determining
whether a stock is overfished, whether
overfishing is occurring, and for
rebuilding overfished stocks. Section
301(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
establishes national standards for
fishery conservation and management,
and requires that all FMPs create
management measures consistent with
those standards. National Standard 1
requires that conservation and
management measures shall prevent
overfishing while achieving, on a
continuing basis, the optimum yield
from fisheries in federal waters.
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center
(AFSC) reviewed the proposed
overfishing definitions in Amendment
24 and supporting environmental
assessment for compliance with
guidelines provided for National
Standards 1 and 2 in 50 CFR part 600.
During this review, the AFSC
recommended modifications to the
amendment text to clarify the Council’s
intent and comply with the MagnusonStevens Act. At its February 2008
meeting, the Council adopted the FMP
text for Amendment 24 which included
the AFSC’s recommendations. On
February 14, 2008, the AFSC certified
that the proposed definitions (1) have
sufficient scientific merit, (2) are likely
to result in effective Council action to
protect a managed stock from closely
approaching or reaching an overfished
status, (3) provide a basis for objective
E:\FR\FM\16JNR1.SGM
16JNR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 116 (Monday, June 16, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33924-33925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 08-1357]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 071030625-7696-02]
RIN 0648-XI40
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Scup Fishery;
Commercial Quota Harvested for 2008 Summer Period
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure of the scup commercial coastwide
fishery from Maine through North Carolina for the Summer Period.
Regulations governing the scup fishery require publication of this
notification to advise the coastal states from Maine through North
Carolina that this quota has been harvested and to advise Federal
vessel permit holders and Federal dealer permit holders that no
commercial quota is available for landing scup in these states.
Federally permitted commercial vessels may not land scup in these
states for the
[[Page 33925]]
remainder of the 2008 Summer quota period (through October 31, 2008).
DATES: Effective June 16, 2008, through October 31, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Bryant, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9244.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the scup fishery are
found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations at Sec. 648.121 require the
Regional Administrator to monitor the commercial scup quota for each
quota period and, based upon dealer reports, state data, and other
available information, to determine when the commercial quota for a
period has been harvested. NMFS is required to publish a notification
in the Federal Register advising and notifying commercial vessels and
dealer permit holders that, effective upon a specific date, the scup
commercial quota has been harvested and no commercial quota is
available for landing scup for the remainder of the Summer Period.
Based upon recent projections, the Regional Administrator has
determined that the Federal commercial quota of 1,437,588 lb (652 mt)
for the 2008 Summer Period will be fully harvested by or before October
31, 2008. To maintain the integrity of the 2009 Summer Period quota by
avoiding or minimizing quota overages, the commercial scup fishery will
close for the remainder of the Summer Period (through October 31, 2008)
in Federal waters, effective as of the date specified above (see
DATES).
Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal scup moratorium permit
holders agree, as a condition of the permit, not to land scup in any
state after NMFS has published a notification in the Federal Register
stating that the commercial quota for the period has been harvested and
that no commercial quota for scup is available. Therefore, effective
0001 hours, June 16, 2008, further landings of scup by vessels holding
Federal scup moratorium permits are prohibited through October 31,
2008. Effective 0001 hours, June 16, 2008, federally permitted dealers
are also advised that they may not purchase scup from federally
permitted vessels that land in coastal states from Maine through North
Carolina for the remainder of the Summer Period (through October 31,
2008). The Winter II Period for commercial scup harvest will open on
November 1, 2008.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 10, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 08-1357 Filed 6-11-08; 3:23 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S
