National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 4, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to assess the environmental impacts of a range of management actions proposed in its draft Amendment 15 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan of the South Atlantic (FMP). This notice is intended to supplement notices published in January 2002, September 2003, and July 2005, announcing the preparations of DEISs for FMP Amendments 13, 13B, and 13C, respectively.

NMFS issues a final rule to amend the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Cost Recovery Program for the Halibut and Sablefish IFQ and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Crab Rationalization Programs. This action modifies the procedure NMFS uses to publish notification of adjustment of the IFQ fee percentage for the IFQ Cost Recovery Program in the Halibut and Sablefish IFQ and the Crab Rationalization Programs. This action is necessary to provide timely and efficient notice of fee obligations while ensuring consistency with all applicable statutes. This action is intended to improve the fee collection methods required for all Alaska IFQ programs under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and is necessary to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act with respect to the IFQ fisheries managed by NMFS in the Alaska Region.

NMFS announces that the percentage of the tilefish annual total allowable landings (TAL) available to the Full-time Tier 2 permit category for the 2006 fishing year has been harvested. In response, commercial vessels fishing under the Full-time Tier 2 tilefish category may not harvest tilefish from within the Golden Tilefish Management Unit for the remainder of the 2006 fishing year (through October 31, 2006). Regulations governing the tilefish fishery require publication of this notification to advise the public of this closure.