[Federal Register: October 8, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 195)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 58037]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08oc03-9]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 000407096-0096-01; I.D. 092903B]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE)
Multispecies Fishery; Commercial Haddock Harvest
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Removal of haddock trip limit.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS
(Regional Administrator) is suspending the haddock trip limit for the
NE multispecies fishery for the remainder of the 2003 fishing year. The
Regional Administrator has projected that less than 75 percent of the
haddock target total allowable catch (TAC) will be harvested for the
2003 fishing year under the existing restrictive trip limits. This
action is intended to allow fishermen to catch more of the haddock TAC,
without exceeding it, and to reduce discards of haddock. Therefore,
this action removes the haddock trip limit for the remainder of the
2003 fishing year, through April 30, 2004.
DATES: Effective beginning October 3, 2003, through April 30, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Chinn, Fishery Management
Specialist, 978-281-9218.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Framework Adjustment 33 to the NE
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, which became effective May 1,
2000, implemented the current haddock trip limit regulations (65 FR
21658, April 24, 2000). To ensure that haddock landings do not exceed
the appropriate target TAC, Framework 33 established a haddock trip
limit of 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) per NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS)
fished, and a maximum trip limit of 30,000 lb (13,608 kg) of haddock
for the period May 1 through September 30; and 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) of
haddock per DAS and 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) per trip from October 1
through April 30. Framework 33 also provided a mechanism to adjust the
haddock trip limit based upon the percentage of TAC that is projected
to be harvested. Section 648.86(a)(1)(iii)(B) specifies that, if the
Regional Administrator projects that less than 75 percent of the
haddock target TAC will be harvested in the fishing year, the haddock
trip limit may be adjusted. Further, this section stipulates that NMFS
will publish notification in the Federal Register informing the public
of the date of any changes to the trip limit.
Based on the December 2002 ``Declaration of Steven A. Murawski,
Ph.D.'' to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,'' in
the case Conservation Law Foundation et al. v. Evans et al., the
Georges Bank (GB) haddock TAC calculated for the 2003 fishing year was
18,540 mt, including both U.S. and Canadian landings. The 2003 Canadian
quota for eastern GB haddock is 6,934 mt. The U.S. portion of the GB
haddock target TAC for the 2003 fishing year should be approximately
the difference between the entire GB haddock TAC and the Canadian
quota, or 11,606 mt. Based on recent historical fishing practices, the
Regional Administrator has projected that, under the current suspension
of the daily landing limits, with the trip limits still in effect, GB
haddock landings for fishing year 2003 would be about 15 million lb
(6,804 mt), accounting for about 59 percent of the estimated 2003
target TAC (11,606 mt). Based on data from the 2002 fishing year, the
Regional Administrator has determined that, if trip limits were
suspended starting in August 2003 for the remainder of the 2003 fishing
year, GB haddock landings would be between 17.36 million lb and 24.04
million lb, or 68 to 94 percent of the target TAC. The upper-bound
estimation is considered extremely liberal because it treats all GB DAS
yielding any NE multispecies in fishing year 2002 as days on which GB
haddock would be harvested under no trip limit in fishing year 2003.
Given that, under current management measures, less than 75 percent
of the 2003 fishing year haddock target TAC is projected to be
harvested by April 30, 2004, and that GB haddock landings will not
exceed the target TAC if trip limits are suspended, the Regional
Administrator has determined that suspending the haddock trip
possession limits will provide the industry with the opportunity to
harvest the target TAC for the 2003 fishing year, while minimizing
discards of legal-sized haddock. In order to prevent the TAC from being
exceeded, the Regional Administrator will closely monitor the GB
haddock landings and may adjust this possession limit again through
publication of a notification in the Federal Register, pursuant to
Sec. 648.86(a)(1)(iii) if projections indicate that the haddock TAC
for fishing year 2003 is likely to be exceeded.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 2, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-25510 Filed 10-3-03; 2:00 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S