[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 230 (Wednesday, November 30, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 74038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30854]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 111102663-1682-01]
RIN 0648-BB60
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico; Commercial Reef Fish Fishery
of the Gulf of Mexico; Control Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery
Management Council (Council) is considering creating additional
restrictions limiting participation in the Red Snapper Individual
Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program. If such management measures are
implemented, the Council is considering January 1, 2012, as a possible
control date. Anyone entering the program after the control date will
not be assured of future access should a management regime that limits
participation in the program be prepared and implemented. NMFS invites
comments on the establishment of this control date.
DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 30, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed rule identified by
``NOAA-NMFS-2011-0273'' by any of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Susan Gerhart, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://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.
To submit comments through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, click on ``submit a comment,'' then enter ``NOAA-
NMFS-2011-0273'' in the keyword search and click on ``search''. To view
posted comments during the comment period, enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2011-
0273'' in the keyword search and click on ``search''. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required field if you wish to
remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in
Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
Comments received through means not specified in this rule will not
be considered.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Gerhart, telephone: (727) 824-
5305, or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Beginning January 1, 2012, all U.S. citizens
or permanent resident aliens are eligible to receive transfers of Red
Snapper IFQ shares or allocation. A Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) commercial
reef fish permit will still be required to harvest, land, and sell red
snapper. This notice is to inform current and potential participants of
the Gulf Red Snapper IFQ Program that possession of IFQ shares or
allocation after this date may not ensure participation under future
management of the program. The Council is considering a provision to
require shareholders to ``use'', as defined by the provision, all or
some portion of their allocation, or be subject to losing their shares.
Other options include re-establishing a requirement to possess a Gulf
commercial reef fish permit to receive shares or allocation under the
program. If the Council prepares an amendment to the Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) for Reef Fish Resources in the Gulf to restrict
participation in the Gulf Red Snapper IFQ Program in relation to this
control date, an analysis of the specific biological, economic, and
social effects of the action will be prepared at that time. Those
analyses would be contained in that subsequent amendment to the FMP and
would be made available to the public at that time.
Publication of the control dates in the Federal Register informs
participants of the Council's considerations, and gives notice to
anyone entering the fishery after the control date they would not be
assured of future access should a management regime be implemented
using the control date as a means to restrict participation.
Implementation of any such program would require preparation of an
amendment to the respective FMP and publication of a notice of
availability and proposed rule in the Federal Register with pertinent
public comment periods.
Since the first control date notice of November 1, 1989, 54 FR
46755 (November 7, 1989), the Council has established a total of five
control dates for various aspects of the Gulf of Mexico reef fish
fishery. As stated in the accompanying notices, they were intended to
provide additional notice to the public that the Council was
considering certain future management actions potentially restricting
public access to fishery resources. The most recent control date was
December 31, 2008, 74 FR 11517 (March 19, 2008), which related to
potential future actions to address overcapacity in the commercial
sector of the reef fish fishery. The current notice does not supersede
any of the prior notices, and is intended only to provide additional
public notice of potential future action being considered relative to
the red snapper IFQ program.
The establishment of a control date does not commit the Council or
NMFS to any particular management regime. The Council may or may not
make use of this control date as part of the requirements for
participation in the IFQ Program. Fishermen are not guaranteed future
participation in the program, regardless of their entry date. The
Council may take action that would affect participants who were in the
program prior to the control date or the Council may choose to take no
further action to control entry or access to the IFQ program.
This notification also gives the public notice that interested
participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and
verify their participation in the Gulf reef fish fishery.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 25, 2011.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-30854 Filed 11-29-11; 8:45 am]
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