[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 30, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28082-28083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-13097]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 625
[Docket No. 950522140-5140-01; I.D. 050595E]
RIN 0648-XX22
Summer Flounder Fishery; 1995 Recreational Fishery Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed rule to amend the regulations
implementing the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder
Fishery (FMP). This rule proposes season dates, a possession limit, and
a minimum fish size for the 1995 recreational fishery. The recreational
season would be open from January 1 through December 31, with a
possession limit of 6 fish per person and a minimum fish size of 14
inches (35.6 cm). The proposed 1995 season, possession limit, and
minimum fish size are specified to achieve the 1995 coastwide
recreational harvest limit, which is 7.8 million lbs (3.5 million kg).
DATES: Public comments are invited through June 23, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to, and copies of the environmental
assessment (EA) prepared for the 1995 summer flounder specifications
are available from the Regional Director, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive,
Gloucester, MA 01930.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Section 625.20 of the regulations implementing the FMP outlines the
process for determining annual commercial and recreational catch quotas
and other restrictions for the summer flounder fishery. The Summer
Flounder Monitoring Committee (Committee), made up of representatives
from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council (Council), the New England Fishery
Management Council, and NMFS, is required to review, on an annual
basis, scientific and other relevant information and to recommend a
quota and other restrictions necessary to achieve a fishing mortality
rate of 0.53 in 1993 through 1995, and 0.23 in 1996 and thereafter.
This schedule of fishing mortality rates is mandated by the FMP to
prevent overfishing and to rebuild the summer flounder resource. The
Committee reviews the following information annually: (1) Commercial
and recreational catch data; (2) current estimates of fishing
mortality; (3) stock status; (4) recent estimates of recruitment; (5)
virtual population analysis, a method for analyzing fish stock
abundance; (6) levels of regulatory noncompliance by fishermen or
individual states; (7) impact of fish size and net mesh regulations;
(8) impact of gear, other than otter trawls, on the mortality of summer
flounder; and (9) other relevant information. Pursuant to Sec. 625.20,
after this review the Committee recommends management measures to
ensure achievement of the appropriate fishing mortality rate. These
measures include: (1) Commercial quota, (2) commercial minimum fish
size, (3) minimum mesh size, (4) recreational possession limit within
the range of 0 to 15 fish per person per day, (5) recreational minimum
fish size, (6) recreational season, and (7) restrictions on gear other
than otter trawls.
Measures (1), (2), (3), and (7) above were implemented on February
10, 1995 (60 FR 8958, February 16, 1995). The management measures
contained in the final specifications were: (1) A coastwide commercial
quota of 14.7 million lbs (6.7 million kg), (2) a coastwide
recreational harvest limit of 7.8 million lbs (3.5 million kg), (3) no
change from the present minimum commercial fish size of 13 inches (33
cm), and (4) no change in the present minimum mesh-size restriction of
5\1/2\-inch diamond (14.0 cm) or 6-inch square (15.2 cm).
The recreational season, possession limit, and minimum size were
not established as part of the final specifications because
recreational catch data for 1994 was not available for the Committee's
use in evaluating the effectiveness of the 1994 season and possession
limit. Shortly after this data became available, the Committee met to
review the 1994 data and to recommend measures for 1995. The Committee
recommended elimination of the closed season, an individual possession
limit of 6 fish per person, and a minimum fish size of 14 inches (35.6
cm).
These recommendations were adopted by the Council's Demersal
Species Committee on March 14, 1995, but the possession limit was
revised by the ``full'' Council at its meeting of March 15-16, 1995.
The Council's recommendation to the Director, Northeast Region, NMFS
(Regional Director) was for elimination of the closed season in 1995,
an individual possession limit of 8 fish per person, and a minimum fish
size of 14 inches (35.6 cm).
On April 12, 1995, the Regional Director disapproved the Council's
recommendation, citing inconsistency with the Council's earlier
recommendation to the Regional Director to take all appropriate actions
to ensure that the target fishing mortality rate is not exceeded in
1995. The Regional Director informed the Council that their
recommendation, being less restrictive than measures imposed in 1994,
was inconsistent with their earlier expressed concern. The Regional
Director invited the Council to reconsider and develop a proposal that
would address the inconsistency without compromising
conservation. [[Page 28083]]
On April 19, 1995, the Council adopted the original recommendation
of the Committee and submitted it to the Regional Director for review.
This recommendation, which is proposed in this action, contains the
following measures: Elimination of the closed season, an individual
possession limit of 6 fish per person, and a minimum fish size of 14
inches (35.6 cm).
Upon publication of the final rule, the recreational fishing
measures for 1995 that are contained in the rule are likely to become
effective with less than a 30-day delay in effective date, because the
season has already started and measures that would be imposed either
would remove a restriction or do not require time to come into
compliance.
Classification
This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 625 and complies with the
National Environmental Policy Act. An EA, which analyzed the impacts
and consequences of the alternative harvest levels, was prepared as
part of the rulemaking that established the 1995 fishery
specifications, including the coastwide recreational harvest level.
This proposed rule contains the recreational season and possession
limit that can best achieve the specified harvest level, and has no
effects that were not previously analyzed in the EA.
The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted,
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities, such as the charter boats and head boats that serve the
recreational fishery. The combination of management measures (minimum
fish size, lack of a closed season, and the six-fish possession limit)
should allow recreational fishermen to harvest summer flounder at a
level close to, or slightly below the coastwide harvest limit for this
fishery. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not
prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 625
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: May 23, 1995.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes that 50 CFR
part 625 be amended to read as follows:
PART 625--SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY
1. The authority citation for part 625 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq.
2. Section 625.22 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 625.22 Time restrictions.
Vessels that do not possess a moratorium permit under Sec. 625.4
and fishermen subject to the possession limit may fish for summer
flounder during the period January 1 through December 31. This time
period may be adjusted pursuant to the procedures in Sec. 625.20.
3. In Sec. 625.25, the first sentence of paragraph (a) is revised
to read as follows:
Sec. 625.25 Possession limit.
(a) No person shall possess more than six summer flounder in or
harvested from the EEZ unless that person is the owner or operator of a
fishing vessel issued a moratorium permit under Sec. 625.4. * * *
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 95-13097 Filed 5-24-95; 12:23 pm]
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