[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 28, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70939-70940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28820]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 120813331-2562-01]
RIN 0648-XC164
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern
United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Proposed Rule To
Implement a Targeted Acadian Redfish Fishery for Sector Vessels;
Reopening of Comment Period
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: This action reopens the comment period for an Acadian redfish
proposed rule that published on November 8, 2012. The original comment
period closed on November 23, 2012; the comment period is being
reopened to provide additional opportunity for public comment through
December 31, 2012.
DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published November 8,
2012 (77 FR 66947), is reopened. Written comments must be received on
or before December 31, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2011-0264,
by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Brett Alger.
Mail: Paper, disk, or CD-ROM comments should be sent to
John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries
Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the
outside of the envelope: ``Comments on Redfish Rule.''
Instructions: All comments received are part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without
change. No comments will be posted for public viewing until after the
comment period has closed. 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. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you
wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
Once submitted to NMFS, copies of addenda to fishing year (FY) 2012
sector operations plans detailing industry-funded monitoring plans, and
the supplemental environmental assessment (EA), will be available from
the NMFS NE Regional Office at the mailing address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brett Alger, Fisheries Management
Specialist, phone (978) 675-2153, fax (978) 281-9135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule published on November 8,
2012 (77 FR 66947) that would implement addenda to FY 2012 NE
multispecies sector operations plans and contracts to add additional
exemptions from Federal fishing regulations for FY 2012 sectors.
Specifically, the action would expand on a previously approved sector
exemption by allowing groundfish sector trawl vessels to target redfish
using nets with codend mesh as small as 4.5 inches (11.4 cm). In
addition, the action proposed to implement an industry-funded at-sea
monitoring program for sector trips targeting redfish with trawl nets
with mesh sizes that are less than the regulated mesh size requirement.
[[Page 70940]]
The proposed rule published in the Federal Register with a 15-day
comment period that closed on November 23, 2012. Public comment from
the fishing industry requested that the comment period be extended to
allow the New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Groundfish
Oversight Committee and the full Council to discuss the proposal and to
provide comment. The Groundfish Committee will be meeting December 19,
2012, and the Council will be meeting December 20, 2012. Both of these
meetings plan to discuss the sector exemption request to target redfish
using a codend mesh as small as 4.5 inches (11.4 cm). Reopening the
comment period to overlap with the Council's meetings will provide
additional time for the Council and other interested parties to provide
comment on this action. Thus, NMFS is reopening the comment period on
the proposed rule through December 31, 2012.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 23, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Performing the Functions and
Duties of the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-28820 Filed 11-23-12; 4:15 pm]
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