[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 23, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72382-72383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30268]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
RIN 0648-XA823
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Electronic Dealer Reporting
System Workshop
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public workshop.
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SUMMARY: On June 28, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule that
considered requiring, among other things, Federal Atlantic swordfish,
shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealers reporting Atlantic bluefin
tuna) to report commercially-harvested Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and
bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack (BAYS) tunas to NMFS through
one centralized electronic reporting system. This electronic reporting
system would allow dealers to submit Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and
BAYS tuna data on a more real-time basis and more efficiently, which
will reduce duplicative data submissions from different regions. NMFS
proposed to delay the effective date of the electronic reporting
requirements until 2012 in order to give sufficient time for dealers to
adjust to implementation of the new system and the additional
requirements. In this notice, NMFS announces the date and location for
an upcoming workshop in the Caribbean area in order to introduce the
new reporting system to HMS dealers. NMFS will announce additional
workshops in a future notice.
DATES: The initial Workshop will be held on December 14, 2011, from 6
to 8 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The initial workshop will be held in St. Thomas, USVI,
Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort, 5 Estate
Bakkreore, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 00801. See SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION for additional details.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Delisse Ortiz or Karyl Brewster-Geisz,
at (301) 427-8503 (phone) or (301) 713-1917 (fax) or http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/index.htm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS are managed under the dual
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and the Atlantic Tunas Convention
Act
[[Page 72383]]
(ATCA), 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. Under the MSA, NMFS must ensure
consistency with the National Standards and manage fisheries to
maintain optimum yield, rebuild overfished fisheries, and prevent
overfishing. Under the ATCA, the Secretary of Commerce is required to
promulgate regulations, as may be necessary and appropriate, to
implement the recommendations adopted by the International Commission
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The authority to issue
regulations under MSA and ATCA has been delegated from the Secretary to
the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. The implementing
regulations for Atlantic HMS are at 50 CFR part 635.
Background
The current regulations and infrastructure of the Atlantic HMS
quota-monitoring systems result in a delay of several weeks to almost a
month before NMFS receives dealer data. This can affect management and
monitoring of small Atlantic HMS quotas and short fishing seasons. As
such, on June 28, 2011 (76 FR 37750), NMFS published a proposed rule in
the Federal Register that considered requiring, among other things,
Federal Atlantic swordfish, shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealer
reporting Atlantic bluefin tuna) to report commercially-harvested
Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and BAYS tunas to NMFS through one
centralized electronic reporting system. Under this new system, dealers
would submit HMS data electronically instead of in a paper format and
include additional information that is necessary for management of HMS
(e.g., vessel and logbook information). The electronic submission of
data will eliminate the delay associated with mailing in reports to
NMFS. In this manner, HMS landings data will be submitted on a more
real-time basis, allowing for timely and efficient data collection for
management of Atlantic HMS.
In order to give sufficient time for dealers to adjust to
implementation of the new system and the additional requirements, NMFS
proposed delaying implementation of the new HMS electronic reporting
system for all federally-permitted HMS dealers until 2012.
Additionally, NMFS decided to conduct outreach to HMD dealers to train
them how to use the new system and help ease the transition from the
current paper format to the new HMS electronic reporting system. NMFS
will conduct an initial workshop for HMS dealers in St. Thomas,
U.S.V.I. on December 14, 2011 (see DATES and ADDRESSES). NMSF will
announce additional workshops in other regions in a future Federal
Register notice.
Dated: November 18, 2011.
Steven Thur,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-30268 Filed 11-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P