[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] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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