[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 126 (Friday, June 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38772-38773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16061]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-BA75
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 workshops.
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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 through one
centralized electronic reporting system. This electronic reporting
system will 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. We
proposed to delay the effective date of the electronic reporting
requirements until 2013 in order to give sufficient time for dealers to
adjust to implementation of the new system and the additional
requirements. On December 14, 2011, we conducted an initial training
workshop in the Caribbean area in order to introduce the new reporting
system to HMS dealers. In this notice, we announce the date and
location for additional training workshops in the Caribbean, Gulf of
Mexico and Atlantic regions in order to continue introducing HMS
dealers to the new electronic system.
DATES: Training workshops for the new electronic dealer system will be
held from July through September 2012. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
for meeting dates, times, and locations.
ADDRESSES: Workshops will be held in Mayag[uuml]ez, Puerto Rico; St.
Croix, United States Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.); Belle Chase, Louisiana;
Dulac, Louisiana; Panama City, Florida; Port Orange, Florida; Seminole,
Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Marathon, Florida Keys. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates, times, and locations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Delisse Ortiz or Karyl Brewster-Geisz
at (301) 427-8503 (phone), or Jackie Wilson at (240) 338-3936, or (301)
713-
[[Page 38773]]
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 (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. ATCA authorizes the Secretary of Commerce 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 or more
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), we published a proposed rule in
the Federal Register 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 BAYS tunas 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 hardcopy
reports. 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, we
proposed delaying implementation of the new HMS electronic reporting
system for all federally-permitted HMS dealers until 2013.
Additionally, we decided to conduct outreach to HMS 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. We
conducted an initial training workshop for HMS dealers in St. Thomas,
U.S.V.I. on December 14, 2011, and in this notice we are announcing
additional training workshops in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and
Caribbean regions. However, we are not holding a training workshop in
St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. at this time; we are working on scheduling an
additional training session in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. in the future.
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Date Time Meeting locations Address
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July 17, 2012........................ 4:30-7:30 p.m.......... Centro de Recursos para Universidad de Puerto
la Informaci[oacute]n Rico, Recinto de
y Educaci[oacute]n Mayag[uuml]ez,
Marina. Edificio de
F[iacute]sica,
Sal[oacute]n 310,
Mayag[uuml]ez, PR
00681.
July 19, 2012........................ 5:00-8:00 p.m.......... Center for Marine and University of the
Environmental Studies. Virgin Islands,
RR1 Box
10,000, Evans Center,
Theater/Room EVC 401,
Kingshill, VI 00850-
9781.
August 7, 2012....................... 5:00-8:00 p.m.......... Belle Chasse Auditorium 8398 HWY. 23, Belle
Chasse, LA 70037.
August 8, 2012....................... 5:00-8:00 p.m.......... Grand Caillou 106 Badou Drive, Dulac,
Recreation Center. LA 70353.
August 15, 2012...................... 1:30-4:30 p.m.......... Bay County Government 840 W. 11th Street,
Center. Room 1030,
Panama City, FL 32401.
August 21, 2012...................... 3:30-6:30 p.m.......... Port Orange Regional 1005 City Center
Library. Circle, Port Orange,
FL 32129.
August 22, 2012...................... 4:30-7:30 p.m.......... Seminole Community 9200 113th Street N.,
Library. Seminole, FL 33772.
August 23, 2012...................... 4:30-7:30 p.m.......... Tyrone Bryant Branch 2230 NW 21st Avenue,
Library. Fort Lauderdale, FL
33311.
September 5, 2012.................... 6:30-9:30 p.m.......... Marathon Government 2798 Overseas Highway,
Center. Milemarker 48.5, EOC
BOCC Meeting Room, 2nd
Floor, Marathon, FL
33050.
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These workshops will be physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Delisse Ortiz at (301) 425-8503 or
Jackie Wilson at (240) 338-3936 at least 7 days prior to the workshop
date. The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the
workshop to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning of each
workshop, a representative of NMFS will explain the ground rules (e.g.,
alcohol is prohibited from the hearing room; each attendee will have an
opportunity to ask questions; and attendees should not interrupt one
another). Attendees are expected to respect the ground rules; if they
do not, they will be asked to leave the workshop.
Dated: June 26, 2012.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-16061 Filed 6-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P