[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 26 (Monday, February 9, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 6510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3103]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 020298A]
RIN-0648-AF41


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 10 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog 
Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management 
plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 10 to the Fishery Management 
Plan for the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries (FMP) for 
Secretarial review and is requesting comments from the public. 
Amendment 10 would provide management measures for the fishery for 
small ocean quahogs (mahogany quahogs) that occurs off the coast of 
Maine, north of 43 deg.50' N. latitude.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Dr. Andrew Rosenberg, Regional 
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930-3799. Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments 
on Amendment 10 to the Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Plan.''
    Copies of Amendment 10 including the environmental assessment and 
regulatory impact review are available from David R. Keifer, Executive 
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115 Federal 
Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 19904-6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myles Raizin, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
508-281-9104.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Amendment 10 proposes to (1) establish a 
Maine mahogany quahog management zone north of 43 deg. 50' north 
latitude (zone), (2) establish a Maine mahogany quahog moratorium 
permit, (3) establish an initial annual quota of 100,000 Maine bushels 
(35,150 hectoliters (hL)), (4) establish a Maine Mahogany Quahog 
Advisory Panel to make management recommendations to the Council, (5) 
allow for the revision of the annual quota within a range of 17,000 and 
100,000 Maine bushels (5,975 and 35,150 hL), (6) require vessels 
harvesting ocean quahogs from the zone to fish only in areas that have 
been certified by the State of Maine to be within Interstate Shellfish 
Sanitation Conference limits for the toxin responsible for paralytic 
shellfish poisoning (PSP), (7) require vessels fishing under a Maine 
mahogany quahog permit to land ocean quahogs in Maine, (8) require 
vessels fishing in the zone under an individual transferrable quota and 
landing their catch outside of Maine to land at a facility that 
utilizes safety-based procedures including sampling and analyzing for 
PSP toxin consistent with those safety-based procedures used by the 
State of Maine for such purpose and, (9) give the Regional 
Administrator the authority to suspend the existing vessel notification 
requirement for vessels possessing a Maine mahogany quahog permit and 
fishing in the zone, if he determines it is not necessary for 
enforcement.
    The transmit date for Amendment 10 is February 2, 1998. A proposed 
rule that would implement the amendment may be published in the Federal 
Register within 15 days of the transmit date, following an evaluation 
by NMFS under the procedures of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries 
Conservation and Management Act. Public comments on the proposed rule 
must be received by the end of the comment period on Amendment 10, 
which is April 10, 1998 in order to be considered in the decision 
concerning approval or disapproval of the amendment.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: February 3, 1998.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 98-3103 Filed 2-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F