[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 238 (Monday, December 12, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77200-77202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31813]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648-BB34
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies; Amendment 17
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a fishery management plan amendment;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council has submitted
Amendment 17 to the Northeast
[[Page 77201]]
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan for review by the Secretary of
Commerce. NMFS is requesting comments from the public on Amendment 17,
which was adopted by the Council, including an Environmental Assessment
prepared by NMFS, to explicitly define and facilitate the effective
operation of state-operated permit banks.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 10, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 17 are available on request from Paul J.
Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50
Water Street, Newburyport, MA 01950. These documents are also available
online at http://www.nefmc.org. You may submit comments on this
document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2011-0186, by any of the following
methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov. To
submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click the ``submit a
comment'' icon, then enter 0648-BB34 in the keyword search. Locate the
document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and click on
the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on the right of that line.
Mail: Submit written comments to Patricia A. Kurkul,
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great
Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope,
``Comments on NE Multispecies Amendment 17.''
Fax (978) 281-9135, Attn: William Whitmore.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and
considered by NMFS. Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you
wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be
accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Whitmore, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978) 281-9182; fax: (978) 281-9135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In 2009 and 2010, NOAA provided nearly $6 million in funding
through Federal grants to the states of Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island for the express purpose of establishing
several ``permit banks'' of Northeast (NE) multispecies fishing vessel
permits. The permit banks were developed jointly by the states and NMFS
to help promote the effective implementation of catch share programs in
New England and to mitigate some of the potential adverse socio-
economic impacts to fishing communities and small-scale fishing
businesses. This administrative action would amend the NE Multispecies
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to explicitly define and facilitate the
effective operation of state-operated permit banks.
The intent of the permit bank program is for states to use the
funding to obtain fishing vessel permits and then to provide the
fishing opportunities associated with those permits, in the form of an
annual catch entitlement (ACE) and/or days-at-sea, to qualified
fishermen. State-operated permit banks are not recognized under the
current provisions of the NE Multispecies FMP, and the only entities
allocated and authorized to transfer a sector's ACE to approved sectors
are other approved sectors. Currently, the only mechanism available for
a state-operated permit bank to operate (i.e., transfer ACE to
fishermen in sectors) is for the permit bank to either join an existing
sector as a member or to form a sector with other permit holders. Both
of these mechanisms unnecessarily complicate the operation of the
state-operated permit banks by imposing redundant administrative
requirements.
Amendment 17 would define a state-operated permit bank as a permit
depository established through an agreement between NOAA and one or
more states, in which Federal grant funds are used by the state(s) to
establish a bank of Federal fishing vessel permits so that the fishing
access privileges associated with those permits may be allocated by the
state(s) to qualifying commercial fishermen and sectors according to
criteria to which NOAA and the state(s) have agreed. State-operated
permit banks are subject to U.S. Department of Commerce regulations
regarding program income, such that any revenue generated by the permit
banks may only be used to defray the program costs of operating the
permit bank, or must be returned to the Federal Government to reduce
the amount of the initial grant award.
Under this amendment, state-operated permit banks would be
allocated ACE and specifically authorized to provide that ACE to
approved groundfish sectors, and/or to provide days-at-sea (DAS) to
vessels for the purpose of enhancing the fishing opportunities
available to sector members. State-operated permit banks must comply
with the terms and conditions of any applicable Federal grant agreement
(i.e., a Federal grant award provided to a state for the purpose of
establishing, enhancing, or operating a permit bank), as well as meet
the requirements specified in a memorandum of agreement (MOA)
established with NMFS for administering the permit bank.
Amendment 17 defines state-operated permit banks as separate
entities from the groundfish sectors, and establishes certain minimum
criteria for these newly defined entities in order to qualify for the
streamlined administrative procedures described in this amendment. This
amendment is primarily administrative in nature and does not
specifically establish or authorize the formation of any state-operated
permit banks. Absent this amendment, such permit banks would remain
free to form--subject to support and funding from NOAA--and operate to
transfer ACE and/or DAS to sectors, according to the terms and
conditions placed upon them by any NOAA grant award and/or MOA signed
with NMFS, so long as they fully comply with the administrative and
procedural requirements for groundfish sectors currently established in
the NE Multispecies FMP.
Public comments are being solicited on Amendment 17, including its
Environmental Assessment, through the end of the comment period stated
in this notice of availability. A proposed rule that would implement
Amendment 17 will be published in the Federal Register for public
comment. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by the
end of the comment period provided in this notice of availability of
Amendment 17 to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on
the amendment. All comments received by February 10, 2012, whether
specifically directed to Amendment 17 or the proposed rule for
Amendment 17, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision
on Amendment 17. Comments received after that date will not be
considered in the decision to approve or disapprove
[[Page 77202]]
Amendment 17. To be considered, comments must be received by close of
business on the last day of the comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 7, 2011.
Steven Thur,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-31813 Filed 12-9-11; 8:45 am]
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