[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 181 (Monday, September 20, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57249-57250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23444]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 100830405-0405-02]
RIN 0648-BA09
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE)
Multispecies Fishery; Charter/Party Fishery Control Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR).
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SUMMARY: NMFS and the New England Fishery Management Council (Council)
announce that they are seeking public comment on the reaffirmation of
the current control date of March 30, 2006, in anticipation of
developing a limited access program for the NE multispecies open access
charter and party boat (charter/party) fishery. This component of the
fishery includes vessels with open access charter/party permits, as
well as limited access NE multispecies permits, while not on a NE
multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) or fishing under the sector management
program. The Council has not made a determination that limiting the
number of participants in this fishery is necessary, but reaffirming
the current control date keeps the stakeholders informed of possible
future consideration of the issue and promotes awareness of potential
eligibility criteria for future access so as to discourage speculative
entry into the fishery, while the Council considers whether and how
access to the charter/party fishery should be controlled. By this
notification, NMFS reaffirms, on behalf of the Council, that March 30,
2006, may be used as a ``control date'' to establish eligibility
criteria for determining levels of future access to the fishery.
DATES: Written comments must be received by 5p.m., local time October
20, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Written comments (paper, disk, or CD ROM) should be sent to Paul J.
Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50
Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Mark the outside of the
envelope, ``Comments- Multispecies Charter/Party Control Date.''
Comments also may be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 465 3116.
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: No comments will be posted for public viewing until
after the comment period has closed. All comments received are a part
of the public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Travis Ford, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9233; fax (978) 281-9135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The charter/party industry targets the
following species: Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), pollock (Pollachius
virens); haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus); and winter flounder
(Pleuronectes americanus); and, to a lesser extent, white hake
(Urophycis tenuis) and wolffish (Anarhichas lupus). In light of the
restrictions imposed by Framework 42 to the FMP in 2006 and their
impacts, members of the charter/party industry and the Council's
Recreational Advisory Panel recommended at that time that the Council
restrict new entrants to the charter/party fishery to reduce the need
for further restrictions on the recreational catch of cod and other
groundfish. The Council did not take action to restrict entrants but,
instead, established a control date of March 30, 2006. A ``control
date'' is a time certain that may be used to limit access to a future
limited access fishery by vessel owners who enter the fishery after the
control date, versus those that entered the fishery before the control
date. One of the purposes of the control date is to discourage
speculative entry into the fishery by vessels hoping to qualify under
any new limited access program, thereby ramping up fishing effort
during the period the limited access program is being developed. The
control date also serves as notice to any new entrants into the fishery
that their financial investment to participate in the fishery may be
jeopardized if they do not qualify to fully participate in any new
limited access program that is adopted.
With the implementation of Amendment 16, many participants in the
recreational fishery have expressed concern that the number of party/
charter operators will increase due to low allocation of some stocks to
the commercial fishery. The Council has decided to reaffirm the
original control date in order to discourage further speculative entry
while it takes time to develop appropriate measures for the
recreational fishery.
This notification reiterates that March 30, 2006, is the control
date for potential use in determining historical or traditional
participation in the NE multispecies charter/party fishery.
Consideration of a control date does not commit the Council or NMFS to
develop any particular management system or criteria for participation
in this fishery. The Council may choose a different control date, or
may choose a
[[Page 57250]]
management program that does not make use of such a date. Fishers are
not guaranteed future participation in the fishery, regardless of their
entry dates or level of participation in this fishery before or after
the control date. The Council may choose to give variably weighted
consideration to fishers active in the fishery before and after the
control date. The Council may also choose to take no further action to
control entry or access to the fishery, in which case the control date
may be rescinded. Any action by the Council will be taken pursuant to
the requirements for the development of FMP amendments established
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This notification also gives the public
notice that interested participants should locate and preserve records
that substantiate and verify their participation in the NE multispecies
charter/party fishery in Federal waters.
Classification
This ANPR has been determined to be not significant for purposes of
Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 15, 2010.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-23444 Filed 9-17-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S